


all the stars are closer

by plvmb



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Turned Into a Ghost, M/M, Mild Language, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-10-13 18:16:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17492840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plvmb/pseuds/plvmb
Summary: So the thing is, Rin doesn't believe in the ghosts. The most he knows about them is what he's seen in movies and TV shows and he's content on keeping it that way. He finds that line running more and more untrue as he stays up late into the night, until the sun begins to rise, googling  "what is a ghost" and "how to set a ghost free".Or, Rin meets a ghost while getting lost on his run and gets more involved than intended to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fanfic came to be after i finished reading Lonely to Organdy (had me crying in the mf club yall fr) and then venting to my good friend Em. she was all like "yoo write something like that" and i was like "ard bet". so yeah, here u go lol
> 
> shoutout to Em who really pushed me to continue to write even when i felt like this shit was no-go and even convincing me to post it. youre the real mvp ily.
> 
> the title is based off the amaazziingg song All The Stars by Kendrick Lamar and Sza (check it out if u havent, its good af).
> 
> also uh, this is the first fanfic i've ever written so, yeah. maybe i should've written something simpler? something shorter? oh well lol it is what it isss
> 
> i hope ya'll enjoy and i'll see you at the end notes. (: <3

Rin loves to run. Especially after a particularly stressful day of school or after an intense swimming practice. It calms him down, let’s his body relax as his eyes focus on nothing but the path ahead of him, mind thinking of nothing particular; only on how pretty the sun lights the forestry in a warm, orange hue. It’s nice, to only focus on his breath and the beauty of nature passing by, something that swimming doesn’t give him. It beats seeing tiled floors pass by him through tinted-concave lenses by a long shot.

It’s so nice, that sometimes Rin focuses so much on the way the leaves and flowers pass by him, the way the ground seems to disappears when he runs really long distances, that he ends up going farther than intended to. He only notices this until he comes up to heavy growth of wild bushes blocking his way (the path ended a while back too, he’s been running freely for a while now), too thick to jump over.

He turns around to gauge his surroundings.

Sometimes, Rin gets so lost in his surroundings that he loses track of where his feet carry him and ends up in new, unknown territory. It doesn’t scare Rin, because he knows he’ll find a way back—he always does. It’s just that it’s going to be a pain because, by the looks of where he’s at and the lack of path trail anywhere in sight, it’s probably going to take a while.

Rin looks around again and then panes his eyes upwards, past the branches of trees overlapping high above him to look at the bit of sky peeking through. It’s beginning to dark. He lowers his head with a sigh.

_ugh_ , he thinks and begins retracing his steps.

-

“What the—” Rin cuts himself off to let out a frustrated sigh at the sight in front of him.

He’s standing in front of a large, open-spaced clearing. Small patches of wildflowers growing here and there and the place is elevated enough that it makes the stars and moon look close, like if he reaches out he can touch them. It’s pretty, Rin admits, but this is _not_ where he wants to be. He wants to be in front of glass double doors, with a front desk and the faint smell of chlorine behind it, not more grass and wild bushes. He’s already seen enough of it for the past _ten minutes_.

Rin’s been tracing and retracing his steps for what feels like forever and all he’s come in face with are dead-ends, the edges of cliffs, thick forestry, and more dead-ends. At one point it seemed like he was going in circles, which annoyed him so badly, he said _‘fuck it’_ and took a turn to walk down deeper into the forest to hopefully (and dumbly) find a beacon of light that would be the exit to this seemingly never-ending maze. Alas, Rin found a path that looked used, if the crushed leaves were anything to go by, and with every bit of hope revived he followed it so that he could be met with the dimly lit up streets of Iwatobi and back on his way to the dorms.

But no, that didn’t happen. Instead, he finds himself face to face with the clearing.

Disappointment is not the correct word to describe what he’s feeling, despair is more like it. A little dramatic but Rin doesn’t care. The sun already set and he’s tired, in desperate need of a shower, and pre-calc homework still waiting to be finished. Plus, tomorrow is Tuesday and Tuesdays are cleaning duty day, which means he’s going to have to wake up early. And it’s cleaning duty with Sousuke, which means he’s going to have to wake up even _earlier_.

Rin lets out another frustrated sigh, letting his head drop back with the movement. He allows himself a moment of peace, eyes scanning the stars above him lazily, letting the sound of crickets and the soft pounding of water encase him before he digs his hand into the pocket of the tracksuit he’s wearing and pulls out his phone. He lowers his head once he hears the unlocking sound of his phone and mutely goes into messages, looks through his inbox for the name he’s looking for and pressing ‘send location’ once found. He puts the phone back into his pocket once done and looks around the clearing.

He decides he might as well check the place out as he waits and starts walking in. It’s mainly empty space, so there really isn’t much to look at but Rin still inspects everything that catches his eye. He starts to walk straight ahead, to confirm something, and when he sees the edge of grass cut off abruptly and cranes his head to look out ahead, he makes a small noise in the back of his throat.

He was right, he’s on a cliff. Rin takes a step closer, to get a better view and yeah _oof,_ that’s a drop. There’s at least 40 feet of space between him and the ocean down below. It wouldn’t be all too bad if it weren’t for the jagged rocks that awaited at the bottom. The waves are slapping against the rocks and there's a thin strip of shoreline bordering the cliff. Rin’s decided that he’s seen enough and takes a step back. It’s at this time he hears a _bing_ go off and he fishes for his phone. He pulls it out and reads the notification.

**1 New Message**

**< Sousuke: ** OMW. How the hell did you even get up there? **>**

He doesn’t really want to text right now, so Rin’ll explain in person if Sousuke still wants to know (knowing him, he definitely will), so he puts his phone away instead. Rin starts walking back, around the perimeter of the clearing when Sousuke’s message comes back into mind, specifically the last sentence.

How did Rin honestly even get here? Yeah, it’s his fault that he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going but he shouldn’t have gotten _this_ lost. He took the same running route almost every time and knew the trails well. If Rin did get lost, which was rare, he always found a way back. How did he not even notice the steepness of the hill on the way here? He’s on steep land, he should’ve felt the burn on his legs if he ran up a hill as big as this one. It’s weird, kind of like the place lead him here, got him lost on purpose which...is a thought Rin doesn’t want to entertain until he reaches Samezuka. Or when the sun rises again, whichever he’s feeling more.

He scrunches his face,  trying to dislodge the unsettling thought because it’s ridiculous—it’s nothing but a damn forest, nothing supernatural about it. Rin’s just starting to get paranoid, that’s all. Being in the woods does that to you and Sousuke’s on his way so everything’s going to be okay and his feet are only walking faster not because he’s scared but because he really wants to take a shower and finish that pre-calc assignment—

Rin stops abruptly at the sight in front of him. There’s something he hasn’t seen before _._ He cocks his head to one side, eyes inspecting.

It’s a cluster of wild-flowers, that’s not the surprising part, it’s that they’re really bright, like they’re emitting their own light and not the moonlight reflecting off of them. Rin makes a curious noise and slowly makes his way towards them, crouching down to get a better look. Rin’s not an expert on flowers but he does have some knowledge on them (he has to, since he always gets Gou and his mom some on their birthday), like what they’re called and certain types, so when he cranes his head more, he identifies them immediately; they’re daffodils but, Rin’s never seen any like these. Upon further inspection, he realizes they’re not glowing—that’s comforting—it’s just that the petals of each flower are lined out in a deep blue. The blue is so rich, it contrasts the white of the flower so strongly, giving it a glowing hue. But now a more pressing question comes to mind: do daffodils even come in blue? Aren’t their colors yellow and white? That’s all he’s ever seen.

Rin reaches out and rubs one of the petals between his fingers. It’s silky.

_Bing!_

The sound of the ring redirects his gaze and he removes his hand from the flower to reach for his phone. It reads:

**1 New Message**

< **Sousuke:** Come down. You’re too secluded.>

Alright. Rin quickly opens the messenger and likes the message, putting the phone back into his pocket and zipping it up. He stares at the flowers once more before reaching out and plucking one out. He’ll show it to Sousuke. Maybe he’ll know something about it. He gets up and returns to making his way out the clearing, twirling the flower.

A loud crunch comes from behind him.

Rin immediately stops, entire body freezing on the spot. What was _that?_

He zeroes in on any noise behind him, ears straining. Moments pass and nothing happens. He waits a while longer but as nothing else appears, he makes his way again, this time walking faster.

A series of crunches follow right behind him and once again, Rin freezes on the spot. His whole body is now covered in goosebumps and he can feel the rapid beat of his heart against his chest, the ringing in his ears. His breath starts getting shallower, quicker, as he tries to listen in again. He feels like he’s being watched.  

Nothing but the song of crickets and the slap of water.

Rin would be bolting right now, should be bolting, _needs_ to be bolting, but he finds that his body doesn’t want to cooperate with his brain because his feet feel stuck to the ground, body frozen, fear racking up every passing second. In fact, the fear is so strong that it’s made Rin’s brain go _dumb stupid_ because he wants to make what is probably the _dumbest_ decision ever.

Rin wants to turn around and face whatever it is behind him.

It’s stupid but Rin can’t help but feel that he has to turn around. It’s like it’s calling out to him. But who’s calling him? The thing behind him? The clearing? Rin doesn’t know, all he knows is that he _should_. He considers this carefully.

Fuck, he has to. It’s just _calling_ him.

He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes to conjure up some strength.

And then slowly, he begins to turn around and while he’s doing it all that he’s thinking is _oh my gosh_. He’s the dumb character in every horror movie who doesn’t know when to leave and not look back. He’s the character that he criticizes every damn time, a fucking walking clichè–

He fully turns in one big flip, eyes snapping open.

He’s met with absolutely nothing. Nothing that could be making the sounds, at least. He scans around wearily, trying to see if there could be a deer or anything of the sort around but there really isn’t anything but open space.

Now that’s weird, too weird for Rin to try to comprehend so he now decides, after having the urge satisfied, to fucking _dip_ and gets one foot in the air, body taut and in sprinter-mode, and whips back around quickly. His foot freezes midway as his eyes glue onto what’s met in front of him.

His heartbeat that he felt so deeply hit against his chest and the roaring in his ears all but seemed to cease; like it stopped dead, as he stares into a pair of eyes staring back at him. They’re large and round and...a really deep blue, _wow_ ...but more than that, they’re fucking _glowing._ Soft light is being emitted from them and when Rin notices that he can see _through_ them, that’s when his body snaps back to life.

“OH SHIT—” Rin gasps so loudly he sounds like a dehydrated whale.

His heart springs back to life as it almost comes out of his throat when he tumbles back; tripping on his own feet and arms flailing out as his ass meets the ground. He’s too shocked to even register the pain or anything at all because all he can do is gape like a dumbass and stare at the….boy, Rin concludes after his eyes focus. One who’s about Rin’s age with translucent skin, dark hair and wearing nothing but, and Rin cocks his head at this, momentarily forgetting his fear, fucking _jammers_.

Kind of a weird flex, Rin can’t help but think. It’s only when he sees the boy turn to give Rin a look of pure annoyance that his fear returns and he tenses up promptly. Rin holds his breath as the boy stares him down, expression almost unreadable.

After what feels like an eternity, the boy finally says, coldly, “You’re loud.”

Rin opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out so he ends up looking like a fish. The boy raises an eyebrow at him. “What? Why are you staring at me?” He begins to walk towards Rin—no, it’s not really walking, more like _gliding_ , and that’s when Rin snaps out of the little trance he’s in. He sputters, moving backward, hand shooting out to attain the distance between them. “D-Don’t come any closer!” He stammers out.

Thankfully, the teen listens and stops a few feet in front of him. His face is still unreadable but Rin wastes no time to get his ass up. He keeps his arm out in front of him, spitting whatever comes to mind. “I’m sorry I disturbed your rest or whatever,” yeah, there really is no coming back from this. He’s going to sound like an idiot but maybe it’ll get him out unscathed. “I was just about to leave, so...so you don’t have to chase me out. I won’t come back.”

The teen doesn’t respond.

It’s quiet, uncomfortably so.

Rin lets the silence linger for a while before it really starts to get at him and he opens his mouth to say something, probably something he’ll regret until he notices something. The boy isn’t staring at Rin anymore, he’s staring to the side of him, gaze down. Rin follows the teen’s line of sight and sees that it lands on a single flower; the daffodil he plucked. Rin’s eyes trail back to the teen’s face and he sees the faintest twitch of an eyebrow. Something in his brain clicks.

Oh. Ohhhhh. Oh _shit_.

Rin begins to panic as he sees the anger slowly pool into the teen’s eyes, like a dam ready to burst. He jumps on the gun. “Oh shit, fuck, the flower,” he begins eloquently and it directs the teen’s gaze on him. One look at those eyes and Rin prefers the gaze to be on anywhere but him, but he has already begun to dig his own grave. “I didn’t mean to,” he continues earnestly, “I didn’t mean to pluck the flower. It was just so...different, really weird. I’ve never seen anything like it and I wanted to take it to see if anyone could maybe explain the colors and all but if that’s what got you pissed, then I-I’m sorry.” His heart is racing a mile a minute, roaring back in his ears.

After another moment of uncomfortable silence and the teen’s eyes still steadily on Rin, Rin swallows thickly. “I’m really sorry,” it’s a whisper now, and he clears his throat, hating how small he sounds. He tries again but his voice pitches upwards towards the end. “I’m sorry okay. It won’t happen again so please let me leave and don’t haunt me.”

The teen’s eyes immediately pinch at that and Rin can see a frown tug at the corner of his lips. “Haunt you?” he murmurs, sounding confused. “Why would I haunt you?”

“Uh,” Rin starts, “Because I pissed you off? Disturbed your rest by coming here? Which, as I said, will never happen again, so your spirit can go back to resting in peace. Forever.” Rin gets no response, only a blank stare. It’s kind of uncomfortable, not as heavily as before though, because this time Rin doesn’t feel any menacing or calculating aura being emitted, just a truly blank stare.

After a beat, “...A spirit?” the teen says, more to himself than to Rin but then he seems to catch himself. “What are you saying?”

Rin replies only after the teen raises an eyebrow that reads ‘well?’. “You know…” Rin tries again, moving his hands for emphasis. “You’re a spirit...a ghost.”

The teen’s eyes narrow at this, leaving only slits. “I am _not_ a ghost,” he says defiantly. Rin glances around, perplexed. “Uh...yeah, you are.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m _not.”_

“Dude, _yes_ you are,” Rin is starting to feel himself getting impatient, which is completely irrational because if he wants to get out of here alive and with no nightmares, he shouldn’t try to get smart with something that could detriment his sanity (if he has any left). But then again _He’s_ being irrational also. The teen is acting like being called a ghost is the most insulting thing in the world, which is ridiculous because it’s exactly what he is. Does he _not_ know? _Impossible_ , Rin concludes immediately because he has to know. Doesn’t he see the difference between him and Rin? How he’s almost freaking transparent?

“I am _not_ a ghost,” the teen says stubbornly and for some reason, the tone in his voice causes a surge of annoyance to fuel inside Rin. He feels himself getting bolder, and his mouth is already opening before he has a chance to stop and think how much of a bad idea this is. “Yes you are,” he points an accusatory finger at the other. “Do you not see that you’re freaking glowing? And almost completely see-through?”

The teen raises his arms to look at them and flinches back once they’re in view. Rin’s mouth drops.

Did he really _just_ notice? There’s no way.

To assess the situation more carefully, Rin cautiously takes a few steps towards the boy, just enough until his face is in better view. It takes a bit of effort since the teen’s hair covers almost his entire face and Rin really has no interest in getting closer than he has to, but he sucks it up and takes a step closer to get a glimpse. There really isn’t much expression on his face, only the small parting of lips, but it’s those eyes that tell Rin what his face won’t. They’re wide in shock and confusion and even a bit of curiosity in them…but they’re also afraid. Afraid like he’s just seen death or worse. Rin can see the turmoil of emotion taking place in them, like an unsteady storm.

It’s enough for Rin’s breath to hitch, waiting in anticipation. The teen slowly turns to face him with a shaky exhale. “But I’m not dead.”

The shaky proclamation makes Rin’s heart tighten against his chest and for once, he doesn’t want to say something. It didn’t really dawn on him that ghosts didn’t know that they’re a ghost...AKA dead. Rin kind of assumed they just _knew_. Thinking about it now, it sounds dumb but then again Rin’s not really knowledgeable on this stuff. Gou’s the one who would stay up watching scary videos on Youtube while he would play on the console or watch swimming videos on his phone. This is beyond his expertise.

“I’m not dead,” The teen says again, and there’s more force to his voice this time, more willpower. “I’m not dead, I know it.”

Once again, Rin stays quiet. This seems to unnerve the teen even more because his eyes take on an angry edge that makes Rin feel uncomfortable again. “I’m not dead, but _you_ don’t believe me.”

“I never said—”

“You don’t have to, your face tells me everything I need to know.” _like your eyes do?_  Rin thinks but doesn’t say out loud. It’ll lead to a whole other conversation that Rin has no time for. His main objective is to get out alive and sane.

The teen’s anger carried through his voice and Rin takes a step back when the other straightens out. They’re close enough that Rin can see that the other teen is a bit shorter than him, not by much though, and that he actually has really good features. Rin inwardly cringes. Now is most definitely not the time for that type of thinking, especially when it looks like the teen has an idea brewing, but Rin’s brain, as he stated before, has gone dumb stupid. The look on the teen’s face has Rin feeling like he should run.

“I am not a ghost and I am not dead. I’ll _prove_ it.” He says matter-of-factly and his arm reaches out.

Oh _hell_ no. Rin is not down for whatever plan ghost boy’s got. He’s going to bolt, would bolt, _wants_ to bolt, but his body is stuck once again. It’s like a weight is being held down on him and he can’t do much but jerk around in one spot. The intense urge he had to turn around is back but instead of wanting to turn around, it’s to get away and he’s jerking around more frantically as he sees that pale hand come closer to him. It hits Rin that’s He’s going to touch him and Rin shouldn’t feel so scared because the boy’s hand will most likely pass through him, but he feels like a wired jump car. ‘ _Move, Matsuoka!’_ he thinks frantically but it's’ too late as the hand tries to grip him. _Tries,_ because instead, it passes through. In that painfully, drawn-out second, every hair on Rin’s body stands on end as goosebumps explode everywhere.

Holy _shit._

It’s like that was the key to breaking Rin’s trap because he shivers so violently, he lurches backward. He cradles his hand in between his thighs as if it will give him some sort of comfort, trying to rub some warmth back because the feeling was atrocious. It was like an AC was shoved into his body, turned on full blast, and then vibrating because of how hard it was working. It’s a weird description but that’s because that’s exactly what it was.

Rin shivers again, body seizing. If it's from the shock or the effects of the hand, Rin doesn’t know anymore but one thing he’s certain about is that the anger mixing in with everything else that he’s feeling is fully reasonable and he allows it to come full force. Reality comes back to him and he whips his head up, a snarl on his lips. “What the hell!” he yells, “do you have any idea what that felt like?! What is wrong with you—” He cuts himself off as his eyes focus.

The teen’s not paying any attention to Rin. Instead, he’s staring wide-eyed at his hands out in front of him. Rin doesn’t need to decipher anything here; the panic is plain on the boy’s face. His chest begins to heave. “No,” his voice is a breathless whisper. “No, I-I’m not—I can’t—”

Rin can’t help but walk towards him, anger completely evaporated. He’s seeing the panic increase and all Rin’s feeling now is worry. The teen’s gaze goes from his hands to his torso. “But I can’t be—I’m not—”

“Hey,” Rin says, feeling unsteady himself but he needs to get a grip.“Hey, it’s okay. Breathe—”

A loud voice breaks through the air that causes them both to jump.

“Rin?! I told you to come down, what are you still doing here?”

Sousuke.

Sousuke’s always had bad timing and this is no different. He hears the cracking of branches and crunch of leaves come closer. Shit. Rin quickly looks around and without thinking he’s about to tell the teen to hide but when his eyes lock onto the other, all he manages is his mouth opening as the teen disperses into thin air. The only evidence of him ever being there is the bright blue light he emitted before disappearing. Rin looks around wordlessly, a plethora of emotions and questions running through him.

“Next time don’t like the message if you’re not going to do it,” Sousuke says behind Rin, voice getting closer, but Rin’s not paying attention. He’s just trying to figure out where the teen went and if he’s okay.

“How the hell did you even get up here? It was almost completely hidden. It took an effort to get here.” Sousuke comes to stand next to Rin and when he doesn’t say anything, Sousuke’s eyebrow raises. He looks down at the shorter teen, eyes inspecting. “Rin?”

Rin’s mind is a mile away, still thinking about ghost boy. He didn’t like, die did he? Out of shock? Did he go back to the ghost world? Fuck, maybe Rin shouldn’t have even said anything and kept on running when the teen first popped up—

“Rin.”

This time, Rin’s eyes move to meet Sousuke’s, who are an inch away from his. Rin’s breath catches in his throat as he stares into clear, blue eyes. They’re a hue or two lighter than ghost boys. “What’s wrong?” Sousuke asks, voice hard. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

_I did,_ Rin thinks but shakes his head. He can’t talk about this. Not now at least. He feels like he needs to keep it a secret.

“Rin?”

“Yeah,” Rin finally responds, cursing himself at how shaky his voice sounds. If he wants to sound convincing, he has to step it up. He clears his throat. “No, yeah, I’m fine.” Sousuke raises an eyebrow, not believing it for a second. There’s a weight in his eyes, as he stares at Rin. It’s a weight that Rin’s gotten used to since they’ve been friends for a long time, but he forgets how powerful it can be at times. He swallows, keeping his eyes on his best friend. It’ll only prompt Sousuke further if he looked away.

“I’m fine, really. It’s just…I had a really close encounter with a wolf.” Rin says and is it the most convincing lie? No, but it’s like the Gods are helping him out because, at that moment, some rustling is heard from the distance. It turns their attention toward the woods but Rin knows even that isn’t enough for Sousuke. When Sousuke turns back around, he still looks unconvinced, pinning Rin with the same stare.

Rin swallows, this time averting his eyes. He needs to think of something better—not a wolf, but a _pack_ of wolves. Yes, and they were circling him, eyeing him—

Rin hears a sigh from in front of him and sees Sousuke back up. “Well, maybe if you didn’t come all the way up here, that wouldn't have been a problem.” He says with a shake of his head, starting to step away.

Rin’s mouth drops open. There’s no way Sousuke believed that, he couldn’t have. Sousuke never lets Rin off easily, always bugging him until he snaps and tells him. So why did he let Rin get away? If Sousuke’s isn’t going to press on it though, then Rin won’t either.

“Rin,” Sousuke says, and Rin squares his shoulders, trying to look as normal as he can. Sousuke gives him a slow once-over, eyes lingering a bit longer than usual before flicking back up. “Hurry up. I know you still have homework to do and you stink of sweat. You need a shower.” And with that, he continues his way downward.

Rin glances around one last time, trying to find any traces of the teen. He’s met with nothing but the soft sound of crickets and waves, and a soft wind blowing across. There’s definitely no sign of him anywhere but Rin feels like he isn’t completely gone. He's probably hiding, which is better than being gone forever because Rin has so many questions he wants to ask and most importantly, check if the teen’s okay. He looks down at himself and sees that his right hand is still quivering.

“Rin!”

“Yeah, I’m coming!” Rin calls out, chasing after Sousuke’s steps.

The daffodil he plucked earlier lays in the middle of the clearing, uninterrupted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHEW, soooo what do ya'll think? did ya peep the lil role-reverse between Rin and Sousuke?  
> tbh this story was supposed to be a one-shot peroo like, idk so many ideas kept popping into my head i was like "this aint gonna fit into one chapter girl" so yeaah this is gonna be multi-chaptered, dont know how many yet tbh, but it shouldn't be anything too long.  
> sorry if the formatting is weird. im new to all this and it was just so confusing trying to copy and paste from google docs to here. i hope it turns out okay tho  
> ALSO lmao, did yall see my use of "weird flex but okay"?? rin is hippp yall, you know he goes on twitter and retweets everything and all things memes.  
> anywhoooo, i wanna thank yall soo much for reading!! like i said, this is my first fanfic so i apologize if my writing is a bit trash. i'll reach my peak potential soon sis (sike nah, with writing u only progress. there aint such thing as peak potential).  
> i'd love to hear what ya'll think so leave a comment if you can! and if yall ever wanna fangirl with me abt rin (bc thats my fucking cinnamon apple) or anything in general, here is my tumblr.  
> alright ily and i'll see you in the next chapter! ciao <33


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOSH how could i forget to add this into the chapter 1 notes lmao im terrible im sorry, but basically
> 
> the world of this story takes place is in an au (lol obviously) where rin truly never mingled with the iwatobi gang when they were kids. this leads to him to not knowing them and vice-versa. everything else stays pretty much the same from there on out, but ofc, things turned out differently because without rin meeting the gang, some events didn't happen (the butterfly effect everyone). where the story is taking place _as of now_ , is in season 1 after episode...i ain't saying LMAO. ya'll will figure it out soon (very soon). 
> 
> now with that being said, here is chapter 2! i found this chapter a bit hard to write because my brain was just going through it idk, so if things don't add up, i apologize. 
> 
> hoookay, as always i hope you enjoy and see you at the end notes!

Last night was a fucking _trip_ and when Rin got back to dorms, he barely registered Sousuke’s rant on how it should be him who’s getting lost and not the other way around, and other meticulous stuff. But Rin’s mind was too preoccupied with what had gone down in the clearing to think about anything else. He was in a daze the rest of the night.

He didn’t even acknowledge Nitori’s _“welcome back, senpai!”_ when he reached his room and allowed himself to be easily pushed into the bathroom by rough hands with an order to clean up and to _‘get a grip, seriously Rin’_.

But he honestly couldn’t. One, he just saw a _ghost_ , something he didn’t believe was real or would encounter in his life _ever_ , and two, the events of what happened on the cliff are still freshly burned into his mind, particularly what happened near the end. The teen’s reaction to finding out he was a ghost, maybe (most likely) being dead, was so raw and honest it made Rin’s chest tighten. It kept him up all night, twisting and turning in his sheets as the teen’s face kept replaying in his head, the emotions he knew the other teen felt sticking to him like a knife in his gut. He knows exactly how it feels to be that scared and unsure—it’s what he felt when he first stepped into Australia all those years ago. It fucking sucked and Rin’s feeling guilty that he made someone else feel that way.

It wasn’t on purpose, but maybe he could’ve approached the topic differently? But how the hell do you break it to someone that they're a ghost? And let’s not even get started on how ghost boy just disappeared into thin air. Rin still can’t believe that happened, how there were literally no traces of ghost boy anywhere, like there was no one there in the first place. What really gets Rin feeling antsy though, is the face the teen made before he disappeared. Fear plainly written on his face. Rin wants to correct that. He wants the teen to not be afraid and erase that look of panic from his face. If Rin has to feel that ugly, weird feeling he gets whenever the teen reaches out to touch him to get the other to feel better then he will—

“Rin, You’ve been mopping the exact same spot for 5 minutes now. I think it’s clean enough.”

The sudden voice causes Rin to snap out of his thoughts and he’s momentarily confused until he eyes the mop in his hand.

Right. He’s on cleaning duty.

He makes a humming sound and moves his mop to another section of the floor, glancing up just in time to see Sousuke turning back towards the glass window he’s wiping down on the other side of the pool, and catches the dark-blue shirt he’s wearing underneath his Samezuka jacket. Instantly, ghost boy’s eyes flash across Rin’s eyes and then in a similar fashion, the daffodil he found yesterday comes into mind.

Damn, he dropped it when he got the shit scared out of him. He was going to show Sousuke to see if he—

Rin’s brain short circuits as a new idea pops into his head. Wait a _minute_. His gaze lingers onto his best friend, eyes watching every movement. Maybe…

“Hey, Sousuke. I have a question.”

The other teen makes a curious sound, continuing to wipe down the glass.

Sousuke has to have some intel on this...he’s always been that guy who just _knows_ stuff, sometimes on things you wouldn’t even think about, and always knows more than what he leads on. It’s just that most people don’t have the courage to ask. Rin’s not one of those people (hasn’t been since forever), but he finds himself hesitating. This question might be a little _too_ odd.

And this sort of question is way out of Rin’s league, uncharacteristic of him. Sousuke will most likely tie this into what happened last night and Rin’s still not ready to say anything yet. But Rin already started talking and to take it back would make Sousuke get even more suspicious than he probably is. Hopefully, he’ll think it’s just small talk.

Rin heaves a sigh. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

Sousuke doesn’t react at all, continuing to wipe the glass. “Yeah, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“I personally haven’t seen one but that doesn’t mean they’re not real. I can’t write off their whole existence with just that. Plus, my parents have always been kind of superstitious so,” he shrugs.

Rin nods at that. Fair answer. Now to really put it into gear…“So do you, like, know anything about them?”

“A bit.”

“How much is a bit?”

“Why don’t you try asking?” And at this, Sousuke stops his wiping to give a fast but clear glance over at Rin, catching his eyes. Rin can’t read the expression on Sousuke’s face before his eyes fall onto the stilled mop in Rin’s hands. “Keep mopping,” he says before turning back around.

Rin moves the mop again, but he’s not paying attention at all. He’s got a ton of questions wanting answers to but decides to ask the one that’s weighing on his mind the most. “...Could ghosts not know they’re a ghost?”

Sousuke replies immediately. “You mean not know that they’re dead? That’s the case for most if not all of them.”

The memory of last night flashes through Rin’s head.

_“But I’m not dead.”_

Rin’s eyes flutter, heart heavy. “So does he not accept the fact?” He murmurs.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

Rin shakes his head. “No, nothing—so they don’t know, right? Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why don’t they know? Can’t they see the difference between them and living beings?”

Sousuke pauses at this, his wiping momentarily stopping. “Their life could’ve ended abruptly and because of that, they could still think they’re alive. As for the other part, It’s like I said, they don’t know they’re dead so they probably wouldn’t notice the difference.”

Unless someone pointed it out, Rin supplies mentally and cringes. “Why do they turn into one anyway?”

“You mean into a ghost?” Sousuke grabs a spray bottle that was laying inside a bucket perched on the sill beside him and sprays down another side of the window. “I guess they have unfinished business.”

Rin raises an eyebrow at that. “Unfinished business? Like stuff they’ve gotta finish and if they haven’t, they stick around until it’s done?”

“Yeah or until they’re satisfied. Same thing, really.”

That makes things more confusing. “So, what? They needa get some type of closure to move on?”

Sousuke shrugs, but then he stops abruptly, going silent. Rin doesn’t miss the change in mood. “Sousuke?”

The dark-haired teen glances over at his name being called and there’s that weird look in his eyes again, uncertain and curious, the same one he had last night when he was talking to Rin. Rin holds his stare.

Sousuke sighs, barely audible, but Rin catches it. He turns back around, drumming his fingers on the bucket. “There’s this thing I read, in a magazine, long time ago,” he starts, eyes kept on the bucket.” It was a passage on supernatural things and it talked about how ghosts are a human soul that is incomplete; missing an important part. They’re trying to find that missing piece so that they can be freed from whatever it is that’s holding them back. Most of them don’t remember what they’re looking for though, all they know is that they have to keep looking,” Sousuke sighs, loudly this time. “So they wander until it’s found, but if they wander for too long, they lose the urge to keep looking or forget what they were looking for in the first place and that’s how they end up here, stuck in our world. Until somehow, something sparks up that flame again for them to keep looking,” Sousuke tsk’s, throwing the spray bottle in the bucket with a shake of his head. “Sad, huh? Even after death, life’s a bitch.” He throws in the towel afterward. “But then again, I read that in a magazine, where all the horoscopes, blood types, and psychic contacts were listed. So it’s most likely bullshit.”

Despite the dismissive tone in Sousuke’s voice toward the end, Rin’s piecing everything that’s been said together and he feels clarity enter him. Bullshit or not, it was enough to get Rin fired up and he feels less anxious about the whole thing and more hopeful. He knows what he has to do.

“We should head back now,” Sousuke says after a moment of silence. “The place is as clean as it’s going to get and it’s not like you're going to mop any better. What’s with the sudden interest, though? Don’t tell me you actually saw a ghost last night and it’s got you all spooked.” He finishes it off with a chuckle but Rin catches the sincerity in the question.

Rin snorts, dropping the mop into a bucket next to him. There’s only a tad bit of guilt present as he replies, “fuck no. I barely believe in that crap anyway.”

-

“Yo, it’s me,” Rin says into the open space around him. He’s back at the clearing, much earlier than yesterday with the sun still out, but it was _killer_ to get here. Sousuke wasn’t lying when he said it took an effort. The path to the clearing was a twist of a thing, and Rin ended up at so many dead-ends he almost called it quits. The teen’s terrified face came back into mind every time Rin was about to throw a tantrum though, and that was enough to keep him going. He _finally_ found his way after maybe 5 minutes having passed, and this time he engrained the way to memory.

Rin, while trying to find the clearing, has also given himself the pleasure of nicknaming the teen  _Jammers Boy_ for the time being as he figured it’s less offensive than ghost boy. That’ll change soon though, amongst other things because Rin has a plan. He just needs the other teen to show up.

He calls out again, getting nothing but a soft gust of wind in response.

Rin doesn’t think Jammers Boy is completely gone, if what Sousuke said earlier is anything to go by and also by the gut feeling he has.

Rin squints at the direction of the sun to see the tinge of orange begin to fill the sky. He calls out one more time. “Hey, you here?”

Nothing but the familiar sound of distant waves.

Jammers Boy showed up yesterday when it was night, so it’s possible that he only appears when the sun is down. If that’s the case, then that could mean he died around that time, at night. Or maybe something significant happened? Whatever the case, Rin’s sure the evening plays a role in whatever has caused Jammers Boy to turn into what he is now. And maybe Rin’s getting a bit big for his britches, but he can’t help but compliment how he’s thinking about all this. It’s got him feeling like a true detective putting pieces of a puzzle together; Detective Rin Matsuoka. It’s got a nice ring to it but he wouldn’t be one anytime soon. Maybe after he retires from swimming, as a pastime.

Nonetheless, Rin will see if his theories run true when the teen shows up. For now, it’s time to wait.

He looks around for a place to sit before his eyes catch onto something in the middle of the clearing. He makes his way to it, having an ‘oh’ moment as he sees what it is and reaches down to pick it up. It’s the daffodil he plucked yesterday. He twirls it around to see that there’s not a sign of trauma to it, looking as fresh as ever with the white and blue still strikingly bright. It’s kind of weird because when Rin dropped the flower, he didn’t have a care in the world for what happened to it; he was in survival mode. That being said, it should've been trashed by Rin’s flailing, but it’s not. Odd, once again but Rin will think about that later when he doesn’t have other gazillion questions running through his head.

He looks at the spot at where the flower was and decides it’s a good place to get settled. He lowers himself down to sit, listening to the sound of waves and soft chirps of birds before reaching behind him for the hood of his hoodie and pulling it over his head. He pulls out his phone to check the time: 18:12. He has about half an hour to kill before it gets dark. He sighs, lowering his back so that he lays comfortably on the ground, resting the flower on his chest. The sky above him has a few wisps of clouds that look like cotton being soaked in an orange dye. There are a few crickets chirping here and there and the waves below are slow and melodic. The clearing is really peaceful, something Rin wouldn’t have thought possible with how everything went down yesterday. The clearing also feels safe, like it was intended too and not a haunted attraction.

He takes a breath, feeling a deep calmness run through him. Rin listens to the sounds around him, mostly the waves below him and feels his eyelids get heavy. Okay, he knows this is kind of a bad idea, to get sleepy, but he can’t help the heaviness in his eyes. If he does fall asleep, it’ll only be for fifteen minutes. Nothing too long.

He takes in one more deep breath, letting his eyes close. He’s thankful that for once, he finished all the homework he had when he got to the dorm and not procrastinate. It means all he has to worry about tonight when he goes back to the dorms, is whatever unfolds when he talks to Jammers Boy.

-

There’s a weird feeling at the tip of his nose, enough that it wakes him up from his sleep and he twitches his nose in annoyance. He’s still too sleepy to really do anything and when it lingers, Rin moves his face away. But slowly, that weird feeling turns into something familiar as he feels it starting to go down his body. It’s a tingle. The hairs on his arms begin to rise and that’s when Rin flutters his eyes open, blearily looking out in front of him.

He’s met with two glowing eyes staring down at him.

 _Shit!_ Rin thinks and he bolts into a sitting position, scurrying away from the uncomfortable proximity. The sudden movement has his head hurting and he can hear pulsing in his ears. He’s disoriented and confused as it takes him a moment to scan the area. Outside, cliff, clearing. He remembers where he’s at now.

He looks up to see that Jammers Boy is looking down at him, eyes cold, like when he first met him. Well, Rin can honestly give two fucks about that now because he almost had his soul leave his body again and that is not okay.

“You scared the crap out of me!” Rin yells, brows furrowing. “Don’t be up in my face like that!”

The other teen shrugs. “You’re always scared,” he says because he is truly unbearable and Rin rolls his eyes. “I wouldn’t be if you decided not to be so close to me,” he thinks about this, “which, don’t. It feels super weird.” Jammers Boy’s only response is a snort.

With a silence falling between them, Rin takes this time to get his heartbeat back to a steady rate while looking around. Everything’s the same except for the sky. It’s dark now with the moon high above him and stars everywhere. Damn, he didn’t intend to fall asleep for this long. “How long was I out?” he murmurs to himself.

“About an hour,” he hears from in front of him and jolts. An hour?! Rin pulls out his phone and quickly turns it on to read the time: 19:25. Dammit. If Jammers Boy’s has been here for a while, he should’ve woken Rin up sooner!

“Ugh,” Rin groans, rubbing a hand through his face to wipe away any lingering sleepiness. “Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?” He sighs, voice getting softer. “Then I wouldn’t have to rush through things…”

“Why are you here?” Jammers Boy says instead and when Rin looks back up at him, he sees that the boy’s face is completely serious, expression cold. Usually, at this, Rin would feel anxious and like running away, but tonight, it doesn’t faze him at all.

Rin knows that look is only a way to hide what Jammers Boy is really feeling. He also knows that the teen’s eyes let out more than what his face will, so all Rin really needs to focus on are his eyes to get an honest response. Rin holds his gaze and memorizes the way panic and fright overtook the teen’s face last night, something he can tell was uncharacteristic of him.

Rin feels himself soften and lets a small smile tug at his lips. “I want to talk about yesterday, about what happened. So,” he pats the space next to him, “c’mon, sit.”

The teen narrows his eyes. “You just told me you don’t want me close to you.”

“Oh trust me, I don’t.” Rin reaffirms. That demand still stays, for now at least. “There’s a good foot of space between us.”

“That’s still close.”

“It’s enough that I won’t feel that weird sensation again, so stop worrying about it.”

Jammers Boy stares at the spot Rin patted. “You’re still contradicting yourself.”

Rin huffs, feeling annoyed. This guy doesn’t let anything go, huh? “Fine, then don’t sit down. I’m just trying to show you some damn hospitality—” he cuts himself off as he sees the teen start to make his way over. It’s only slightly unnerving because the teen is certainly gliding but there’s still the sound of grass and leaves crunching beneath him. Rin tries not to focus on it too much.

Jammers Boy sits down beside Rin in one fluid motion. Rin smiles. “Alright, thanks.”

Jammers Boy only hums in response but Rin knows that the act spoke volumes. The entire encounter so far, Jammers Boy seemed to be in a constant state of fight or flight and this showed that he trusted Rin, if only the tiniest amount, to sit and listen to him. It’s progress, It's got Rin feeling happy.

But despite the progress and the so-called ‘plan’ Rin’s been thinking about all day, he finds himself coming short. A silence has fallen between the two and he hates that now out of all times, he’s becoming unsure and nervous. In all honesty, he didn’t think he would see Jammers Boy again. There was always this selfish thought in the back of his mind that when he came back here, the teen would never show up and Rin would promptly file the encounter under ‘weird experiences, maybe I was high’ and go on with the rest of his life. But here he is, in all his ghostly glory and Rin has to continue because he got the boy to sit down next to him for god sakes and it's getting more awkward with every passing second and he just can’t go back on his word; that’s lame.

Rin takes a breath. He can do this. “So yeah, about yesterday—”

“I’m not dead,” Jammer’s Boy says quickly, a flash of something in his eyes before he lowers his gaze. “I’m not dead,” he says softer. “...I know you don’t believe it, but it’s true.”

Sousuke’s words come back to Rin.

_“Their life could’ve ended abruptly and because of that, they could still think they’re alive.”_

It’s sounding more and more like that. Rin bites his lip, thinking of what to say next.

“...What’s the last thing you remember?” He asks mildly.

The teen looks back at him, expression blank. Rin pushes on. “Like, you know, the last thing you remember doing? If you can recall that then it could help us find out what happened and what’s made you turn into this,” he waves his hands in front of the teen.

“You want to help me?” Jammers Boy says, face still unreadable. “Why?”

Rin could play it cool and say it’s because he has nothing better to do and wants to see this whole thing through. Only the second half of that is true. He could also be sincere. Not too sincere though, because Rin’s pride has always been a little high up there, but just enough to get the message through. After thinking it through, being sincere seems like it will help his chances better. Sincere, but not too sincere. He’s got this.

“Like I said, because of yesterday. The look of panic and fear on your face...It wasn’t a nice thing to see and I bet worse to feel. I would know because I’ve felt it before too. I know you’re confused and afraid, and who wouldn’t be? If I can help in any way so you don’t feel like that, I’ll help,” more of Sousuke’s words come to mind as Rin continues talking, “So I wanna help you find the truth so you can...find out what happened and rest easy. I want to get you out of here so you can be free.”

Okay, well, being ‘not so sincere’ was a definite fail. He literally almost poured his heart out and doesn’t know why he went that far. He feels the hotness of embarrassment creep on his cheeks and it’s not helping that the teen is blinking at him owlishly. Rin looks away, sucking his teeth. “Plus, I feel bad that I was the one who made you feel like that, intentionally or not. I’m trying to redeem myself.” Ugh, how pathetic.

“...Sap,” is what Rin hears after what feels like forever and he sputters, pride rising like shackles. “Fine! Don’t take my help, see if I care.”

“You just expressed that you did.”

He whips around. “Okay asshat—” the rest of the insult dies in his throat. Jammer’s Boy is...smiling. It’s not a full-blown smile, it’s tiny, barely there, with the corners turned upwards. Rin sees the smile mainly in the teen’s eyes; a small light dancing between the two pupils. Rin’s eyes naturally map the other teen’s face, and because his brain always chooses the wrong moments, he can’t help but notice how the dark fall of the teen’s hair frames his face nicely, contrasting the blue of his eyes and paleness of his skin beautifully, and how his features, even though a bit blurred, are prominent and symmetrical, really nice to look at. Maybe Rin is a tiny bit of a sap, but Jammers Boy is _really_ attractive, especially when he’s smiling. The small crinkle at the corner of the teen’s eyes is making Rin feel some type of way and he knows the hotness on his cheeks isn’t really from the embarrassment anymore. He runs his hand through his hair, puffing out a breath. “So do you want my help or not?” Rin murmurs, looking away. He needs to cool down.

“Sure, I’ll help you to redeem yourself.”

Rin rolls his eyes but can’t help but sport his own smile. “Okay, thanks. So back to my question, what’s the last thing you remember?”

Jammers Boy takes Rin’s question seriously this time, if the faraway look and silence is anything to go by. He brings his knees up and rests his chin on them. He looks so young doing that, like a child.

“I...I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

“Try. Try _really_ hard.”

“I am,” he grits out, concentration visible on his face, a small frown forming.

After a while, the teen blinks once, twice, before his eyebrows raise in surprise. He’s got something. Rin feels excitement fill his chest.

“I-It’s not much—”

“Better than nothing. Go on, continue,” Rin says hurriedly. He doesn’t want Jammers Boy backing out.

“I was going to, until you interrupted,” the teen says, giving Rin a glance. Rin doesn’t even care.  
The teen sighs. “All I see is...water. Water around me and someone...yelling for help.”

“Who’s yelling for help? Man? Woman?”

“Man,” Jammers Boy replies with confidence. Rin runs the information through his head.

Water and someone yelling for help. Rin glances at the teen. Well, he is wearing jammers so it could be likely that he was drowning and the person yelling for help was trying to save him? Or maybe he was trying to save the person yelling for help and he ended up drowning in the process—

“Stop thinking of ways I could have died. I already told you I’m not dead.”

Rin sucks his teeth, getting mad at being caught. “Well I’m sorry that every other damn ghost in the world is a ghost _because they died_. It’s a natural way of thinking,” he sighs. “Is that all you can remember?”

The teen nods and Rin nods in return. It’s definitely not a lot but they’re going to have to make do with what they’ve got.

“How do you know this will help? Have you dealt with something like this before?” Jammers Boy asks, looking back at Rin.

Rin snorts. “Hell no. I didn’t even think ghosts were real until you showed up. I asked a friend.”

The teen tenses. “You told someone about me?”

“Not specifically about you. I just asked whether they knew about ghosts and if ghosts not knowing they’re one.”

Jammers Boy turns his head and gives Rin a look that says ‘that’s-the-same-thing’ before rolling his eyes and resting his chin back on his knees. Rin shrugs. “I didn’t know jack, alright? I still kind of don’t but he gave me some good insight on this.”

The teen side-eyes him. “Who’d you ask?”

“Sousuke, the guy who found me yesterday.”

Immediately the teen averts his eyes, nose wrinkling. “I don’t like him.”

Rin chuckles at that. It was kind of cute. “Sousuke? Why not?”

“He’s annoying.”

“Nah, yesterday wasn’t the best introduction in the world, bad timing, but Sousuke’s not a bad guy. He’s actually the one who gave me the strength to come back here, even if it wasn’t intentional,” Rin drops his eyes with a smile, voice getting soft, as an unexpected thread of affection and respect weave through. “He’s my best friend. He always has my back and is always looking out for everyone. I trust him a whole lot, even with out-of-the-way topics like the paranormal.”

The teen stays silent, looking out ahead of him. It takes a moment but the teen begrudgingly speaks up. “...What did he say?”

Rin remembers the conversation he had with Sousuke and hesitates on whether or not he should mention certain aspects of it. It’s better if he doesn’t, he doesn’t want to hide anything from the teen that concerns him.

“He said that ghosts don’t realize they’re dead because their life could have ended abruptly, without warning—I know. You said you’re not dead but hear me out,” he says this as he sees the teen open his mouth. Once it closes, he continues. “He said that a person turns into a ghost because they’re missing or not satisfied with something. It's like their soul is missing a piece and they’re wandering around trying to find it.”

“So we’re going to try to find whatever it is that is keeping me here? By what I remember?”

Rin nods. “That’s the plan.”

“But what I told you is all I can remember. It’s not much to get a lead on.”

Rin can’t help but snap a finger at him. “That’s what _you_ think, but you’re lucky that I have a powerful, smart, detective brain that’s already put some things together. Wanna hear?”

The teen stares at the finger, disgusted. “After what you just said, no, not really. But I know you’ll tell me anyway.”

“Of course. I can’t keep these genius thoughts all to myself.” Rin smiles. He loves being annoying. “So,” Rin starts and goes on to tell Jammers Boy about his earlier thoughts, with a warning of, _“I thought of these scenarios in the context of how you might have died, okay? Don’t get butthurt over it”_ beforehand and soon enough, the teen is nodding along.

“That kind of makes sense. I didn’t even realize I’m only wearing jammers.”

Rin’s mouth falls open. “Seriously? You’re literally the most unaware person on the planet.” Rin follows the stretch of fabric covering the teen’s upper thighs, taking the detail more into consideration and another thought pops into his head. He’s actually thought about this when he first saw the teen, but he never dwelled on the idea farther. “Actually, do you like swimming? Ever swam competitively? Because your jammers actually look really good, like it’s made out of expensive material.” The intricate details are harder to see but Rin can faintly make out how sleek and good fitting the clothing fits him. Someone who only swims as a pastime wouldn’t get something as good as this.

The teen shrugs. “I told you, I can’t remember.” He pauses, frowning. “I don’t think I would enjoy swimming competitively, though. Swimming leisurely is good enough.”

Rin snorts. “I’m a swimmer myself and I live for the competition. Yeah, I enjoy swimming leisurely from time to time, but nothing beats swimming competitively. The excitement you get before you dive in, the cold enveloping you once you’re in, the adrenaline that rushes through your body and into your hands when you cut through the water; parting it to make way for you but also making it a part of you, it’s,” Rin sighs here, almost in ecstasy. “It’s just the best man. Especially when you make a new personal best or you see your teammates give it their all because you gave it your all and vice-versa.” He looks over and when he sees the stare Jammers Boy is giving him, he blushes.

Ah, shit. He went a little overboard. He just really likes swimming.

He clears his throat, averting his gaze. “A-Anyway, yeah, It’s fun. My main stroke is butterfly.”

Rin feels the teen’s stare still on him and tries to will away the heat on his cheeks. The boy turns his gaze back to in front of them, staring off into the ocean. “I can see why you’d like it. I guess if I ever swam competitively, I would swim freestyle. It’s the most honest stroke.”

“Honest huh? That’s one way to put it. I swim free from time to time but it gets kinda boring after a while, but you saying that confirms my idea a little more.”

“How so?”

“The terminology you used. Most people would just say freestyle is normal swimming, not actually call it ‘freestyle’, so it confirms you could have been a competitive swimmer or at least knew something about swimming. This is pretty good, we’re coming up with a lot of things.”

Jammers Boy shrugs. “I guess.”

Just then, Rin’s phone makes a _bing!_ sound from his pocket. He reaches for it and checks his lock screen.

 _1 New Message_  
< **Sousuke:** Where are you? Curfew is almost here.”>

He swears, looking at the time: 20:15. Curfew was at 20:30. He didn’t realize it had gotten this late.

“What’s wrong?” Jammers Boy asks.

“I gotta go,” Rin replies, pushing himself up and dusting himself off. “I have a curfew since I go to an academy. Damn, time really flew by.” He hopes he can navigate his way back in the dark. Rin looks down at the teen who’s still sitting down and gives him a small smile. “I’ll be back tomorrow, alright? We’re gonna start looking for clues. You better be here.”

“I don’t know where else I’d go.”

Rin rolls his eyes and gets ready to leave before a very important realization pops into his head. “Wait, holy crap, what’s your name?” He can’t believe he forgot to ask. It should’ve been the first thing that came out his mouth today. And oh, oh my gosh, he was supposed to ask about the flowers—how the hell did he forget about that? He’s got other questions he should’ve asked too—

Rin stops his thoughts when he notices he hasn’t gotten a reply yet. He looks down quizzically and sees the teen’s face furrowed down hard in concentration. “I...I don’t know. I thought I knew it, but…” fear is beginning to overtake his eyes again.

No, Rin thinks and steps forward. “It’s okay, we’ll figure it out. If you can’t remember, that means all we’ve gotta do is find something to trigger the memory. Don’t stress it.” It’s not a lot but the nod the teen gives is all Rin needs. Another bing goes off and Rin sucks his teeth.

“I really gotta go,” he says and starts making his way down, calling out “my name’s Rin, Rin Matsuoka. I’ll be here tomorrow so don't fret over anything just yet. Alright, see you!”

He’s halfway out the clearing when he hears “What a girly name.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rin is a scholar okay, the biggest scholar to exist. 
> 
> shit is about to get STARTED ya'll and im so excited. 
> 
> ily all and see you in the next chapter. adios <33


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHEW okay, here's chapter 3 y'all. 
> 
> enjoy <3

Rin checks the time. 18:30. He looks up to see the darkness begin to stretch across the sky.

This is good, he should be here by now.

“Hey, you here?” 

A draft of wind passes by and right in front of him, a glowing blue orb forms. More orbs appear from seemingly out of nowhere and begin to clump together. Rin stares in wonder as the orb turns from a blob into a silhouette of a person, and soon enough,  the features of Jammers Boy become present.

“I’m here,” he says after his whole body is done materializing. Rin’s still in an incredulous state, trying to take in the bizarre performance he just witnessed. It was like something you only see in movies. 

The teen raises a brow. “What?”

Rin laughs, a bit manic. “You really don’t realize? don’t you feel any type of way? You kind of just formed out of a glowing ball.”

The teen shrugs. “It doesn’t feel any type of way. ” 

“Really?”

The teen sighs. “Yes,” he answers and his eyes move to the top of Rin’s head, and then to the two straps encircling his shoulders. He steps aside a bit to get a better view of what’s attached. “What are you carrying?” he asks.

Rin breaks into a grin, taking one strap off to whip around a small, black backpack. “All the things we’re going to need for tonight because tonight,” he pats the front of the backpack, “we’re going hunting.”

The teen looks back to the top of Rin’s head, unamused. “And the hat will help?”

Rin rolls his eyes. Of course, he would point _that_ out.“If we’re gonna be looking around and checking places, the last thing I want is things falling on my head. I don’t wanna end up with bugs in my hair.”

“So that’s what we’re going to do? Look around?”

“Yep. We’re going to see if we can find whatever it is that is binding you here. Or if we can find anything that can trigger your memories and hopefully, that’ll be enough to set you free. I’ve been reading up on it.”

At this, Jammer’s Boy raises his brows. “You’ve done some research?”

Rin nods at this. “Mhm. I started reading an article when I got back to the dorm last night,” after, of course, he evaded Sousuke and his ongoing questions. It was hard trying to dodge someone as persistent as Sousuke, but Rin got through it by Aiichirou coming at the perfect time to ask the redhead for help on his English homework. Needless to say, Ai was a guardian angel in disguise who came at the perfect time to save his ass. “And then one led to another, and another—seriously, who knew there was so much stuff on this--and now I’m way more informed on all this ghost shit. I’ve learned some things that are really beneficial.”

“Like?” the teen asks.

“Like,” Rin says and waves his arms around the clearing, “that ghosts manifest in places only where they have a significant tie to. You only appear in this clearing, as far as I’ve seen, so I’m pretty sure something must have happened here or around here that has some significance to you. Also, more than a place being significant, usually an object is what ghosts are truly attached to,” Rin opens the latch on the bookbag and pulls out a flashlight, flicking it on. “We’re gonna look all around, in every crevice and hole, for any type of object in hopes that it’ll be your golden ticket to remembering something,” he adds this part in a softer voice, “and hopefully, setting you free.”

Jammers Boy looks at the flashlight, a strange light playing in his eyes. He turns around to face the other direction. “Let’s get started, then.”

Rin can’t help but tease him a bit. “Ooh, eager aren’t you? You excited?”

The teen shrugs, already beginning to walk, no, glide, Rin corrects himself, to one side of the clearing. “Who wouldn’t be excited to finally get some answers?”

Rin smiles, feeling of warmth spreading across his chest. He wants to tease more but decides to drop it. He’s got something else he needs to ask. He told himself not to forget this time. “Hey, wait,” the teen stops and Rin notices the fracture of the fall in his shoulders. He’s starting to get annoyed. Rin’s feeling accomplished at noticing this; he’s only known Jammers Boy for a total of 3 days and is already starting to pick up on little quirks. It’s rewarding.

The teen turns around and gives Rin a look.

“Relax, I’ve got one more question,” Rin turns the light of the flashlight to illuminate a patch to the side of them; the patch of daffodils. The white and blue of the flowers still glow vibrantly. “Those flowers,” Rin says, inching a bit closer. “Do they mean anything to you?” his eyes follow the royal blue of the petal.

The teen stares at them, blinking meekly. “No, not really.”

Rin gives him a stare of ‘you-aren’t-fooling-me’ to which the teen replies with his own stare of ‘what?’

“They’ve gotta mean _something_ to you. I haven’t forgotten that look you gave me the first night when one of them was on the floor. You looked one glide away from strangling me.”

The teen blinks and then blinks again, eyes distant. After a moment, he gets a look of clarity. “Oh, I...I never noticed until now but they’ve been with me, for as long as I could remember. Nothing ever came my way, not even animals, those flowers are the only thing that have been with me. So when I saw one ripped and on the ground, it was like,” and his nose twitches a bit as a look of hard concentration passes through his face. “It was like you ruined the one thing that’s kept me company. The one thing that’s been watching over me. I was angry.”

And wow, okay, that was way deeper than Rin thought and an excellent way to make him feel like shit. But Rin didn’t do it on purpose, he was just curious because he’s never seen something like them— 

“I know. You didn’t do it on purpose, I get that,” the look of guilt must’ve been evident on Rin’s face for the teen to try to console him. “I was angry but...I don’t know. I was protective of them at that moment,” he looks back at the flowers, “no, I still am. But I know you won’t hurt them. So I’m okay now,” Rin follows his gaze and hums. He lets the silence linger for a while before speaking. “They’ve got to be tied to you in some way. You see the petals? The blue on them? They’re the same color as your glow,” this could mean they must’ve come into existence only when Jammers Boy began to appear. That also means they could disappear when he leaves.

The teen takes a look at himself and nods.

Rin sighs, walking over to the patch and reaching out to touch one of them. Soft and silky. “I’ll research about them when I get back. Now though, after having most of my question answered, let’s get the search party started.”

“Finally,” the teen murmurs, walking back to where he was initially going. Rin scoffs, turning the other direction. “Well sor~ry, it’s not like you missed anything to find. You couldn’t find anything that quick anyway.”

“Wanna bet?” Jammers Boy says and Rin stops at the tiny hitch in the teen’s voice. He turns around to see the teen is only glancing over his shoulder, but Rin swears he sees a glint in his eyes, one Rin knows all too well. He gets that look himself way too often.  He’s rolling with it without a second thought. “What? That you’ll find something quickly? Want me to put a timer?”

The teen shakes his head, eyes never leaving Rin’s. “No, but I bet I can find something before _you_ can.”

That all but ignites something in Rin and he feels a swell of excitement build behind his ribcage. “Oh, you’re  _on,”_ Rin says, the fire of excitement growing more. “If I win, you’ve gotta tell me that I’m the best detective alive and that you’d be lost without me.” It’s childish, but Rin sees the cringe and breaks into a wide grin. It’s exactly what he was expecting.

“Fine,” the teen says, turning his head away. “If I win…” he pauses, bending down to inspect a shrub. ”You’ll have to tell me about the academy you go to, your friends, and what you meant by feeling the way I did on the first day.”

Rin feels the competitiveness in him die down and a swallow gets stuck in his throat. Australia wasn’t all that bad but he doesn’t talk about it much. Rin’s always felt like he’s bragging whenever he brings it up and what Rin felt was _years_ ago and nothing compared to what Jammers Boy felt. The two are incomparable but it's also that he could easily tell Jammers Boy without needing to win a bet. He doesn’t mind.

“Oh, and tell me more about swimming. I’m interested.”

That’s way more than what Rin asked for, but...his eyes follow the curve of the teen’s head, the back of his spine and his eyes soften. He replies much softer than intended to, “yeah, deal.” 

-

“ _Ugghhhhhh,”_ Rin groans, taking off his baseball cap frustratedly. His legs are aching from being crouched down for so long.

“Keep looking,” comes a voice from a few feet behind him and Rin tsks. “I’ve been looking for the past 15 minutes. There isn’t jack here,” he gets up to kick a pebble, watching as it flies only by a couple of inches.

They’ve been looking all around the clearing, inspecting and reinspecting every piece of ground they can cover probably for 20 minutes now and absolutely nothing has shown up. Not even a lost toy or dirtied shoe.

This freaking _sucks._

How can there not be anything here? Jammers Boy’s spawn place is in this clearing so there should be _something_. That’s what all the articles said, but all they’ve come across are bushes, mounds of dirt and more bushes.

Rin places his cap back on, running a hand through his face, letting it settle over his mouth.

He has to find something here before he leaves. He can’t pinpoint why, but he feels like his time is limited. And this feeling isn’t new; it’s been present ever since he first met Jammers Boy, but Rin’s always thought it was because he has to go back to the dorms early. But now, it’s like he _needs_ to figure this out as fast as possible, in only a few days. It’s anxiety inducing and he doesn’t know why he’s come to the odd conclusion but he can’t shake the feeling away.

He looks over his shoulder at Jammers Boy. He’s still idly looking through mounds of bushes. This time, his hands actually grip onto the vegetation and he can move it around. It’s fascinating how he can touch certain things and not others, but Rin turns back around, gaze now focused on the flashlight in hand. He turns it around in his palm before shining it ahead of him. He lets the light pass through bushes, unimpressed until the light shines on a small opening. It’s the opening that he takes to and from the clearing. Rin straightens out as his eyes focus on the tiny trail depicted in the light.

So _that’s_ what they have to do. Rin turns to call the boy towards him. “Hey, we’re not finding anything here.”

The teen makes his way. “Are we giving up, then?” there’s a slight tremor in his voice.

Rin snorts. “Of course not. We’ve exhausted all our resources here though. It’s pretty clear we’re not gonna find anything, so what we’ve gotta do is search farther,” he jiggles the flashlight to get the teen’s attention toward where the light is shining. “We’ve gotta head down and search the forest.”

The teen blinks, staring at the trail before slowly giving a nod. “Alright. Let’s go.”

He takes the lead and Rin follows behind. Rin stifles a yawn, craning his neck back. “I say we split up once we reach down there. You take the left, I take the right. Don’t go past the shoreline though, the currents are—” he cuts off in a gasp as he feels an explosion of goosebumps run through his body.

He knows _exactly_ what this is and sprints away. He stops once the odd tingle is gone, a shiver running through his body. “Oh my gosh, why did you stop?” he tries to rub some warmth into his arms. “Next time give me a freaking warning.”

Once the last shiver leaves his body Rin turns back to see Jammers Boy look at him with hard eyes. Rin’s brow raises. “What?”

The teen puts his hand up, as if he’s waving, but it stays put. He puts his other hand up and taps the air in front of him. It’s like he’s miming a wall. Rin’s just about to tell him to cut it out before he realizes that the teen’s face is pulled into a tight expression. It’s like he’s pushing against…

Rin’s eyes round. “Oh shit. You can’t leave?”

The teen shrugs, stepping back a bit before walking faster. He bounces back when he reaches the beginning of the trail as if an invisible force pushed him back. Rin gapes, making his way back up. He moves his arm out in front of him, toward the teen, hand passing by freely.

This is...

He lets out a surprised whisper. “Oh fuck. You really can’t leave.”

“I’m trapped here,” the teen spits out bitterly. It’s the closest thing other than fear that’s slipped out of the teen’s mouth, Rin knows the emotion is raw and unchecked; too strong to contain.

“It’s all good,” Rin says and then wishes he didn’t by the look the teen throws him. It’s venomous, causing Rin’s body to immobilize. “No, it’s not. I’m trapped here. It won’t let me leave, let me find what I need to be _free_.”

“Then I’ll find what you need,” Rin says quickly, swallowing at the anger overcoming the teen’s features. His anger isn’t some fiery, hot flame that expands and gets worse, no, it’s a cold, icy thing, like a snowstorm covering anything and everything, one that’s worse than the latter. Rin is not ready to handle that yet. “Chill, alright? I told you that we’re going to find something today and we will, promise,” and since when had Rin ever promised anything? Not in the longest but it has to be the chill in those eyes and the air seeming to drop two degrees that prompted him to say that. It _has_ to be. “I have a flashlight so I’ll go down,” he waves it for emphasis. “I’ll be back, okay? I’ll come back with something, so you can be a step closer to being free.”

The teen doesn’t say anything, but the frost in his eyes starts to melt away. Rin’s body deflates. He gives the teen a smile, small and unsure before turning around when he senses the tension shrivel down. “I’ll be back, Jammers Boy. Don’t shit your pants just yet.”

He’s halfway down when he hears the confused reply of  “Jammers Boy?”

This time, Rin’s smile is genuine. “Yep, that’s your nickname for now ‘til we find out what your actual name is. It’s pretty fitting, right?” He follows the path downward not waiting for a reply.

-

Now he’s going to be really _pissed_ if he has to go back up empty-handed.

Rin hasn’t found anything on the lower level of the cliff and he’s beginning to feel desperate. He even went down a little further than he intended to just to see if he could find anything, but there is truly nothing. Not even a goddamn piece of _trash._ He glances upwards, past the trees, into the darkness and lets out a frustrated whine.

He can’t go back up there. He has to find something, fuck, he _promised_ . He still doesn’t know why—still thinks it was the atmosphere, even if a little voice in the back of his head says _nah—_ but that’s all the more reason he can’t go back up. Even if it wasn’t a pinky promise (because a pinky promise is the most serious of them all), a promise is a promise and Rin would never go back on his word.

He moves to unzip the backpack on his back, fishing for his phone. Once found, he reads the time: 19:15. At least he still has a good amount of time left. He’ll look somewhere else. Rin places the phone back in the backpack, zipping it up before thinking of what direction to go next.

He turns around slowly and sees a small trail that leads to the shoreline. The waves are lapping against it softly. Rin begins walking towards it, flashlight steady in hand. He’ll look around the base of the cliff, where the shoreline is. As he reaches the designated spot, he’s surprised to see that there are actually no harsh currents. He’s heard a lot about the ocean being pretty vicious lately; mainly from the other students in Samezuka who have family who are fishermen, so he thought the waves would be pretty bad. They’re nothing bad though, the sea is calm. It’s a good thing because this means Rin can navigate a bit more throughout the shoreline without having to worry about being splashed relentlessly.

The shoreline is a thin strip, not too wide but enough for Rin and maybe one more person to walk side by side and it seems to wrap around the cliff. He looks around the shore with the flashlight, lighting up any darkness he finds. Nothing comes up in the water, only tiny seashells.

There are some jagged pieces of boulder stacked against each other more up ahead. He’ll look through them.

Rin shines the light between them when he gets there, and almost drops the flashlight when he sees what's there. At the bottom, in a pocket of a puddle, lays what looks like a piece of fabric. White with a tiny red symbol.

Rin feels like he’s won the freaking lottery and quickly reaches down to grab it. It’s a bit deeper than expected so he braces a hand on a rock to steady himself as he reaches in farther. He has to really stretch to get it but once his fingers grip onto it, he pulls it out in one sharp movement.

“Shit!” He jerks his hand back from the rock as he feels a sharp sting run across his palm. He flips his hand over to see a thin red line run across his palm. He cut himself on a pointy side of the boulder but he’s too excited to care because fucking _finally!_ He found something!

In the other hand lays the prized possession. The fabric isn’t even a bit larger than his palm and honestly, it could just be some washed up trash, but Rin’s got a good feeling about this. He kept his promise and he can’t wait to show Jammers Boy but he needs to make sure there isn’t anything more he can find. He can’t help but fist-pump the air before placing the fabric in the pocket of his joggers and continuing to look around where the boulders are and farther down the shoreline. Once Rin comes up empty-handed after five minutes, he decides to call it quits. His eyes travel up, where he can see the edge of a cliff. A cliff where a certain ghost boy is no doubt waiting for him.

Rin all but walks back.

- 

“Jammers Boy! Jammers Boy!” Rin yells as he almost trips on a piece of a branch but catches himself, running to the middle of the clearing. He looks around and sees the back of said name. “Yo!”

The teen turns around, watching as Rin hurriedly makes his way. He raises a brow. “What?”

Rin’s got a wide smile on, and his voice carries it. “I did it. I kept my promise.”

Jammers Boy blinks once, twice, before his eyes light up and he snaps his head toward Rin. “You found something?” His voice is soft but surprised.

Rin nods, digging into his pocket and holding out his fist once he finds the garment. “It’s not much but, I really think it could mean something. Fuck, I mean it’s got to, it’s the only thing we’ve been able to find so far so—”

“Rin,” the teen says, eyes glued to his fist. “Show me. 

And Rin definitely will, in a second, he’s just kind of taken aback right now because this is the first time Jammers Boy has said his name. Is Rin making a big deal out of it? _Yes,_ because for one, it sounded pretty nice coming out of his mouth and two, the teen’s voice sounded different, different from how he usually sounds. He sounded almost robotic in a way; mesmerized.

Rin nods, eyes steady on the teen and turns his fist to face upwards, unfolding his fingers so the fabric comes into view.

Silence stretches between them. The teen’s eyes are glued to the fabric and Rin thinks that maybe he’s having flashbacks, information coming back to him, so he stays quiet. It’s only when what feels like a minute has passed and seeing that Jammers Boy has made no attempt to move, body tense, that Rin speaks up.

“So...has anything triggered yet? Any memories?”

The teen completely ignores Rin’s question, eyes still transfixed on the fabric. The silence lingers for a moment longer before the teen reaches out, toward Rin’s hand.

Rin flinches. “Oh hell no, okay if you want to touch it let me put it down first,” and he moves to do just that, well, _tries_ , but just like the first night, when the teen reached to grab him, Rin’s body is immobilized. An invisible force seems to be pushing down on him, keeping his feet glued to the spot so all he can do is squirm pathetically.

The teen’s pale hand reaches for the fabric and Rin tenses, anticipating the weird, tingly feeling going to run through his body. And it does, when the teen’s hand brushes against his but what Rin didn’t expect is for the teen to actually _grab_ the fabric.

Jammers Boy’s fingers grip onto the piece and he pulls it toward himself. Rin’s mouth falls open as he sees the ragged piece of fabric transform into a translucent, sheer thing, glowing blue and _expanding_ , right before Rin’s eyes. The white of the fabric grows with a blue light and slowly, it starts to take the shape of a piece of clothing; a jacket. The sleeves materialize from what looks like, tiny glowing particles— _ghost particles—_ and the rest of the jacket forms in the same manner.

Rin’s mouth is still opened slack, and he’s regained the ability to move, but the sheer force of awe is what’s holding him in place now. The teen slips his arms through the sleeves of the newly materialized track jacket and shrugs it on. Immediately, blue stripes form across the arms and chest, a light blue and a darker blue. A shimmer coming from the teen’s back grabs Rin’s attention. He steps to the side and sees letters form across the back. He reads them out loud, “I-W-A-T-O-B-I, Iwatobi,” Rin murmurs, before his eyes round and he whips his head to look at the teen. “Iwatobi high school—”

“Yes,” the teen says, eyes locking onto Rin’s. “I go to Iwatobi high school, second year. I’m an A-B student with my favorite subject bring art and I really, really love mackerel,” Rin can’t help but chuckle at the weird confession, feeling giddy and happy. Jammers Boy is _remembering_.

“I swim, just like you,” the teen continues and Rin sees a sparkling form in the other’s eyes. It’s _mesmerizing._ “I love swimming, maybe more than I love mackerel. I swim free and I’m in a club—” he cuts himself off, the sparkle only slightly dimmed. “I...We were going to train…” and this is where Rin snaps out of his little trance, remembering what the whole purpose of this was.

“Train where?” He asks, watching as the teen’s brows furrow. He looks out into the ocean. Rin follows his gaze. “...Somewhere, I don’t know,” His gaze turns onto the ground, “but we were going to go train and...ocean...Makoto doesn’t like the ocean…”

“Makoto?” Rin questions, trying to keep up with the teen, but he’s beginning to mumble. “Who’s that?”

The teen swallows, “My friend.”

“Was she going to train with you?”

“He,” The teen corrects which leaves Rin pleasantly surprised. So he’s not the only guy with a girly name, that’s nice to know.

Rin thinks back to the conversation they had yesterday and pieces what he’s just learned with this. “Hey, you know how you said there was water all around you and someone was calling out for help?” The teen gives Rin a stare before nodding reluctantly. “Maybe,” Rin says, treading lightly, “since you guys were going to train, something didn’t go right and so this ‘Makoto’ guy is calling out for help because of that.”

Rin looks out to where Jammers Boy was looking. If Makoto doesn’t like the ocean though, why would they train in open waters?

The teen shrugs. “Maybe. There were more than just me and Makoto there. More males.”

“Do you remember who?”

The teen closes his eyes, sighing. “I don't know—maybe? There are so many flashbacks coming in.”

“That’s good, the more you remember, the better. One of them could be the key to finally letting you go which, by the way, are you feeling any different? Like more...light?” Rin knows that isn’t the right word but he knows Jammer’s Boy knows what he’s talking about.

The teen considers the question before shaking his head. “I’m remembering a lot but I need _more_. I feel like not everything is...complete. I still don’t—” the teen bites his lip, stopping short.

Rin steps closer. “What?” Jammers Boy can’t be backing out now out of all times.

The teen raises his gaze, meeting Rin’s eyes. His voice is low. “I still don’t know my name. It’s not popping up.”

Rin takes this into consideration, running through all the information he read in the articles. _Ah,_ “Maybe we’ve gotta find something else. Find another object that’ll complete the picture. I remember one article talked about ghosts being tied to more than one thing, maybe your soul is scattered into different objects. We’ve gotta find the rest,” Rin adds the last part only to lighten the mood. “ Guess you’ll have to still be Jammers Boy for now.”

The teen bypasses the joke. “What if it’s _too_ many pieces? What if we can’t find them all?”

Rin bites the inside of his lip. That’s definitely a possibility. A really good possibility but he has a gut feeling that isn't true and Rin’s gut instinct hasn’t failed him yet. “That’s a possibility but...I don’t think so. I mean, you’re remembering a lot already, right? If we gotta find two or three more objects so that you can remember everything, so be it.”

The teen gives him a look. “Won’t you be missing a lot of school? I don’t want this to make you fall behind.”

Rin shakes his head. “Nah, it won’t. I come by here after class and practice are finished anyway. Don’t worry about that.”

A blaring horn sound comes from Rin’s backpack and he takes it off to find his phone. Once found, he turns off the alarm, looking at the time. 20:00.

“You put an alarm?” The teen asks.

“Yeah, I gotta make sure I don’t end up getting locked out the dorms,” he sees that there are 2 new messages all from the same person: Sousuke. Rin puts his phone back into the backpack. He’ll read them later.

“I’m gonna go now, but I’m gonna leave you with some homework.”

The teen raises a brow.

“Try to string all the memories that have been popping up into order, as best as you can. I’ll do some more digging tonight and tomorrow. I’m definitely gonna call Gou tomorrow too.”

“Gou?” The teen asks and Rin smiles. “Yeah, my sister. You won’t believe this, but she _goes_ to Iwatobi,” The teen’s brows raise. “I know right? And since you’re on the swimming team, I’m betting that she has to know at least your name. It’ll be better if she knows more than that.”

“Why do you think she’ll know my name?”

Rin chuckles, running a hand through the back of his head. “She’s got this weird obsession with athletes, mainly their muscles. Swimming is one of her favorite sports so I’m betting she must’ve at least come to one of your meets. Wouldn’t be surprised if she knows the whole team.”

The teen nods, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his jacket. “Will you come by tomorrow?”

“‘Course. I’ll probably come by a little later than sunset though if I’m going to be getting information out of Gou and researching some stuff.”

The teen nods again. “Okay. I’ll have my homework done by the time you get here.”

Rin sighs, raising his arms above his head to have a good stretch. “Yep, you better,” he looks around before gasping softly, running back into the field. The teen’s eyes follow him as Rin bends down and then comes running back to him. There’s a daffodil in his hand. “I almost forgot this _again._ I’m gonna see if I find anything on it once I get back,” he places the flower in his pocket gently. “Alright, I’m off,” He says as he begins to jog.

“Rin,” the teen calls out gently, and Rin feels butterflies in his chest. Hearing his name still does something to him.“Yeah?” He turns to look at Jammers Boy.

Jammers Boy gives him a genuine smile. “Thank you. I mean it.”

The heat rising to Rin’s cheek has to be because of the heat in the air. It is fall, after all.

“Don’t thank me yet,” he says swallowing, “thank me when you’re free.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sousuke's a momma bear and it's cute but hmm, it's got rin feeling some type of way. 
> 
> lmao _now_ things are finally getting started. oof, i cant wait to see what rin's going to do next with all this new information...let's hope for the best!
> 
> as always, thank you so much for reading! see you in the next chapter. xo


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg yikes, sorry for updating so late, life has been pretty flipping busy, but here ya go!

Rin reaches the dorms at 20:15, not too late or too early. He could’ve made it 5 minutes earlier but somewhere along the way he got _really_ tired and started walking instead of running (speed walking of course).

Rin reaches for the lanyard he has tucked away in the small pocket of the backpack and finds his keycard, holding it against the scanner and walking in once the doors open for him. He runs through the plan he created as he walks towards his room: take a shower, eat something (because he’s fucking starving), google the flower, and then google some more on ghost stuff; pretty simple work. If he bathes and eats fast enough, he could probably finish everything by 22:00, and that would give him enough time to get a decent amount of sleep.

“Hey, Rin,” Rin startles, stopping just in time before he bumps into the figure in front of him. He looks up to see Sousuke leaning against the wall, a granola bar in one hand and a book in the other. Rin smiles. “Hey, what’s up?” he says before he peers over at the book and sees all the highlighting and sticky notes. He chuckles. “You’re really enjoying that book, huh?”

Sousuke shrugs, angling the book so Rin can have a better look. He drawls, “I’m getting something to drink but no, not really. I’m only annotating the chapter to help with the test tomorrow.”

Oh _crap_. Rin completely forgot they had a test tomorrow, he didn’t even finish reading the chapter. Damn, he’s going to have to add that to his list.

“Oh, and since you’re here, send me what you wrote for the chemistry questions. I’m not sure about 6 and 10, I texted you about them earlier.” There was chemistry work? Rin didn’t even _know_.

Okay, okay, he doesn’t need to get stressed just yet. He’ll do the questions before he reviews for the test, and then he’ll google—no wait, damn, he forgot he had to finish the precalc assignment he didn’t finish in class. He’ll squeeze it in after doing the questions, or should finishing the assignment come first? Decent amount of sleep his ass, he’s most likely going to pull an allnighter. Maybe Ai can lend him the chemistry work—

“Rin,” he’s snapped out of his thoughts as he feels a light push against his shoulder. “Huh? What?”

“Did you hear what I said?” Sousuke’s gaze is steady. Rin swallows, shaking his head. “No, sorry. I was thinking of something.”

Sousuke’s holds his stare before he rakes down over Rin’s body. Rin shifts, feeling uncomfortable at the sight of being checked out so prominently. “Uh…”

Sousuke doesn’t stop, despite Rin’s discomfort. He finally meets Rin’s eyes after a long second. His expression is hard to read. “I said you smell like outside and,” he leans in closer, “the ocean,” his nose twitches. “Where were you?”

Rin hesitates, trying to come up with something. If he tells Sousuke he was at the clearing again, he knows the other teen will want to know why and will persist for as long as he wants, and if Rin told him about Jammers Boy...Sousuke would be all over his ass and never let him go by himself and Rin does not want that. Sousuke’s his best friend and he knows the teen is always trying to look out for him, but there’s a difference between looking out for someone and hovering. Sousuke sometimes confuses the two. If Rin lied, however, it would most likely make things even harder. Sousuke will find out the truth eventually, and it won’t be pretty, he’s _quite_ a petty person. No option is really a good option, in all honesty, but…

Rin bites his lip, sighing. He can hold out a little longer. “I went for a run and then decided to stop by the beach to cool down.”

Sousuke raises a brow. “Running this late into the night? Aren’t the waves dangerous right now?”

“It’s barely 20:30, Sousuke,” Rin points out, starting to feel annoyed. “It’s not late at all and no, actually. The ocean is really calm.”

“Hn,” Sousuke hums but doesn’t budge. Rin gives him a tight-lipped smile and is met with Sousuke taking a bite of the granola bar. Rin gives it a beat before he decides it’s time to go. He’s wasting valuable time.

“Anyway, I gotta go now. I still have to finish reading the chapter and—”

“You didn’t finish it?” Sousuke asks, eyebrows raising. Rin shrugs. “I was busy, but I only have a few pages left, I got this. I’ll send you the chem work when I’m done.”

“Have you started it?”

Rin doesn’t say anything, which elicits an eye roll from the other teen. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Yeah, so, I really have to get out of here if you want me to send those answers at a reasonable time,” Rin starts walking, plucking the granola bar from Sousuke’s hand as he makes his way, ignoring the other’s glare.

He takes a bite as he walks to the end of the hallway and into his room.

-

Rin falls into his chair with a sigh, looking at the work on his desk distastefully. He rubs his eyes before reaching over and grabbing a protein bar that lays beside the journals he’s got out.

He just finished his shower and decided that he can eat and do his work—it’ll be better that way. He rips the protein bar open, taking a bite as he flips to the precalc assignment, getting started on the problems. It isn’t actually that much, just 3 questions to finish, but they’re long.

The door to the bathroom opens and out steps Aiichirou, sighing a breath of relief as he pats his face dry. He looks over at Rin and gives him a smile. “Finishing some work up, senpai?” Rin nods, keeping his eyes on the journal. “Yeah, I forgot to finish.”

Ai gives him a nod, quietly moving over to his desk to drape the towel over his chair. He’s about to climb onto his bed when Rin remembers what he was going to ask. “Oh, Ai,” he says and when the younger teen whips around to face Rin with those large, beady eyes, Rin feels the favor die on his tongue. He’s never really asked Ai for his work before and he feels kind of lame for asking someone younger than him, kind of irresponsible on Rin’s part, but he's also so _tired_ , and he can’t figure out _why_. Practice wasn’t even that hard and yeah, he’s usually sleepy whenever he comes back from the clearing, but never like this. His eyes feel like they have boulders on them and Rin knows he won’t finish the chemistry work without help, he’ll most likely pass out doing it. And he lied when he told Sousuke he had 3 pages left to read; it’s more like 5.

“Ai, um...do you mind if I see the chemistry work? I haven’t done it yet and I still have a book to read and study for the English test I have tomorrow,” _and I have to research some things on ghosts,_ he supplies mentally.

“Oh!” the younger teen exclaims, nodding. “Yeah, of course, Senpai.” He makes his way to his bookbag.

“Thanks. Sorry for this, Ai, I don’t usually procrastinate this bad.”

Aiichirou shakes his head. “Don’t sweat it. It happens to the best of us,” he takes out a binder and brings it to Rin’s table, setting it on a corner. Rin takes another bite of the protein bar, talking over a mouthful. “Thanks.”

Ai nods once again before leaving.

Rin’s just finishing number 2 when Ai calls his name behind him. “Yeah?” he replies.

“I’m going to put your sweatpants in the laundry basket if you don’t mind. They have a dirt stain on them.”

Rin gives him an absentmindedly ‘okay’ as he scribbles down the next part of the equation before remembering that there’s something he needs. “Oh, wait Ai, let me get something from the pocket.”

Aiichirou makes his way towards Rin with the pants. Rin reaches over for the left pocket, cupping his fingers against soft petals. He pulls it out and when he opens his hand, he nearly falls back with how violently he jerks. Aiichirou, surprised by the sudden movement, also jerks back.

“Senpai?” he asks mildly, but Rin doesn’t reply. His gaze is transfixed on his palm.

There’s just no fucking way…

Aiichirou calls out again, and when he doesn’t get a response, he peers over to get a better look at what Rin is looking at.

“A flower?” Ai murmurs before he gasps. “Senpai! What happened to your hand—”

“Ai,” he says, and Aiichirou straightens at the serious tone Rin’s taken. “Y-Yes?”

“This flower,” Rin brings the flower closer to Aiichirou, “what do you see?”

Ai gives Rin an incredulous look. “Uh...what?” Rin shakes his head. “Be serious here. The flower, describe it.”

Ai glances at Rin warily, before biting his lip. “Alright...I see a daffodil, I think,” he’s not brushed up on his botany.

Rin nods. “Right, keep going.”

Ai bites his lip. “It’s uh...really pretty?” When Rin doesn’t say anything, Ai continues on. “The white of the flower is really pretty.”

“What if I told you this flower,” Rin twirls it, “actually has blue lining around each petal and _glows_ , would you believe me?” Because right now, Rin is staring at a daffodil Ai exactly described but he knows that’s not what this daffodil is supposed to look like. It looked completely normal, and it even started to look a bit dull, like it’s wilting.

Aiichirou stares at the flower, biting his lip. “Um...is that a trick question?”

“Just answer me.”

Aiichirou glances at Rin warily and back to the flower. “...No, I wouldn’t. U-Unless you mean...no I’m sorry senpai, I wouldn’t believe you,” Ai says deflatedly. “There’s no flower that looks that way.”

Rin groans, dropping the flower on his desk and rubbing his hands through his face. “This is crazy,” he murmurs. He was hoping that Ai actually did see the blue lines and Rin was just tripping, but that’s not the case. Rin doesn’t know what to do now, with the flower at least, especially with what Ai just said. If no flower like that exists, then that means there wouldn’t be anything on it if he were to google it. He was hoping the flower could give him a lead on Jammers Boy, if it explained why a flower had certain lines and colors on it.

“At least it’s one less thing to research,” Rin says out loud and sighs, picking up his pencil again. “Sorry to disturb you, Ai. You can put the pants in the laundry basket now, and forget this conversation ever happened.”

Silence laps between them, Rin going back to finishing up the equations when he hears Ai speak up. “Well, if you’re really curious on the flower, you could still google it. Learn about it and maybe search up if a flower like what you described actually exists.”

Rin flips through the binder Ai brought, face falling. “You’re right, I could, but looking at this chem work,” he can already feel his hand cramping up at how much he’s going to have to write. “It’ll most likely take up my whole night. And then I gotta finish that stupid chapter.” Just his luck, really. He should invest in a planner.

“...I can research it for you if you want.” Ai suggests which causes Rin to turn to look at him. Ai gives him a smile. “I don’t mind, especially since it seems important to you.”

Rin looks at the clock hanging on their wall. It’s about to be 9 and Rin knows that Aiichirou has cleaning duty tomorrow. “You have to wake up early tomorrow, right? It’s fine, you need your sleep.”

“I doubt it will take that long senpai,” Ai says and shrugs. “Plus, I’m not really tired. I drank some tea earlier.” Rin rolls his eyes. “Forgot to get decaf?” Ai’s cheeks redden a bit. “Y-yeah.”

Rin sighs, looking over at the flower laying on his desk. This will be the second thing he’s asked of Ai in the past 10 minutes so he rather not, but the tiredness he felt seemed to grow stronger after his shower. “...If it’s not too much trouble…”

Ai shakes his head, heading over to his desk. “Of course not, Senpai. I’ll start right now.” He pulls his chair out and sits down, opening the laptop that lays on the desk. “Oh!” he says and turns his chair to look over at Rin. “What happened to your hand, senpai? That’s quite a large cut.” Rin shrugs nonchalantly, going back to writing. “Nothing, really. I cut myself on a rock while on my run.”

Ai’s eyebrows shoot up. “A rock? How did that happen?”

Rin sighs. “I dropped something and had a hard time looking for it. Can we stop with the questions now?”

Ai reluctantly nods, turning back around to turn on his laptop. Rin knows Ai isn’t satisfied with that answer and will probably ask him again later on in the future, but it’s enough to get him to stop asking questions for now and that’s all Rin needs.

A good half an hour of silence laps between them, the only sound being Ai’s typing and Rin’s pencil against paper. He’s on question 3 of the chemistry work, eyes going from Ai’s paper to his own diligently.

“Senpai,” Ai calls out to which Rin replies with a distracted “yeah?”

Ai sighs, leaning back in his chair. “Well, I was right on no flower existing in such way; there are no articles or such on a daffodil with blue stripes. They only come in white, pale yellow, and yellow.”

Rin nods. “Yeah, I figured. It’s okay, thanks for trying, Ai.”

Ai continues, “but I did search up what a daffodil and the color blue mean separately if that’s any help.”

This gets Rin’s attention and he looks over at Ai, pencil stilling. “What did it say?”

Ai leans over to look at his screen. “Well the color blue represents both the sky and sea, along with being calm and serene,” Ai reads. Rin can vouch for that; Jammers Boy has this relatively quiet aura about him, when he’s not freaking out over the state of his being.

“And the daffodil?’

Ai hums, the sound of a mouse clicking echoing through the room. “Daffodils usually represent rebirth and new beginnings.”

-

Rin enters his room, drops his backpack onto the side of the bunk bed and sprawls across his bed, sinking into the mattress. He stays that way until he can’t breathe and rolls onto his back, staring at the bedpost. He lets his eyelids close, giving his mind the moment of peace it desperately needs. He ended up pulling an allnighter, despite finishing all his work before 23:00 o’clock. You would think that he wouldn’t have to stay up all night with Ai helping him research a bit earlier, but articles and videos on ghosts are so abundant and honestly so _interesting_ that the next moment Rin glanced at the time it was already reaching 4 in the morning.

He really needs to learn how to just stop and _put the damn phone down_ , but the rest of the day hasn’t been going smoothly either. He’s pretty sure he flunked that English test, because at one point Rin looked over to see what number Sousuke was on and noticed that their answers rarely matched up, and then he spent most of the other classes trying not to fall asleep, getting caught twice in the same class.

Rin sighs, reaching in the pocket of his Samezuka uniform for his phone and bringing it to his face. It’s 14:20 and practice doesn’t start until another hour. He’ll use this time to call Gou.

He swipes over to contacts and presses call once he finds Gou’s contact, bringing the phone to his ear. The line rings for a while before going to voicemail. Rin brings the phone back out to his face and double checks the time. Gou should be finishing up school right now, so why isn’t she answering? He calls again, and one more time when he gets sent to voicemail. This time, when he reaches voicemail, he leaves a message: “Hey, Gou, It’s me, Rin. Give me a call back when you can, it’s kind of important.”

He ends the call, a final thought of weird running through his brain before he goes to the clock app to place an alarm for 45 minutes after. If he’s not going to spend this time getting answers, he’ll use it for something more useful: sleep. Rin rolls onto his side, sighing as he closes his eyes.

-

Rin pulls out his phone as he makes his way out of the locker room, clothed in his Samezuka tracksuit and duffel bag swung across his shoulder. There are notifications from his social media and some messages from classmates, but no missed call from Gou. He calls her, once again being sent to voicemail. Rin looks at his phone.

If Gou was busy earlier, she should at least be free by now, It’s 17:30. Or at least, free enough to pick up the phone. Rin remembers how she used to pick up the phone on the second ring every time he called. Maybe she has a lot of homework?

Rin scratches his head, contemplating this. Once inside, he drops his bag by the foot of his bed, taking out his leg skins to hang on the bedpost. He looks out of the window, watching as the sky is still a vibrant blue. It’s still too early to go the clearing.

Rin looks back at his phone, sighing. He doesn’t necessarily want to spend his time doing nothing but waiting for Gou’s call, so he’s going to do the next best thing. He grabs the backpack he used yesterday and swings it over his shoulders and then opens his phone and goes to maps.

Iwatobi high school is a 10-minute bus drive plus a 20-minute walk. Rin’s sure he can cut that walk time in half if he runs.

-

Iwatobi high school is nothing but a regular school in a small town. It is one of the biggest buildings in Iwatobi and Rin takes in the view of the facility from outside the school’s gate. There’s a garden to one side and the courtyard is actually quite large, maybe a bit larger than Samezuka’s. The school itself is pretty big and looks relatively clean and new, save for the few cracks and dusty windows.

Rin walks over to the opened gate that leads to the school but stops right before entering. He knows he should head to the main office and ask for information but the longer he looks at the school he sees that there isn’t much movement inside the building; much less the front desk. Damn, are visiting hours over? He didn’t arrive late at all, but the lack of life present is making it seem like it is. He should’ve gone on the school’s website before coming, now he looks like a dumbass just standing here—

“Excuse me,” Rin looks over to see a petite female wearing a sun hat with a brim too large for her face, smiling up at Rin warmly. “You look lost.”

Rin gives her a small smile. “Y-Yeah, I’m not from here. I was going to go to the main office to ask about something.”

“Oh!” She exclaims, looking over at the building and pointing toward the front doors. “If you go through the front doors and to your left, the main office is there,” she then settles her gaze back on him, smile still placed on her lips. “But I do teach here, and for a while now, so if there is something you would like to know, I could tell you.”

Rin relaxes a little. "That would be great, yeah,” he says. “Thank you, sensei…”

“Miho,” she supplies warmly. “Miho Amakata, and your name is?”

“Matsuoka Rin,” Rin bows before continuing, “Miho-sensei, I was wondering about Iwatobi’s swim team.”

Almost immediately, the woman’s mood changes. Her smile drops and she blinks up at Rin, owlishly. “Swim team…”

The murmur and almost confused look on her face catch Rin by surprise. “Iwatobi does have a swim club, right?” He asks, feeling unsure. There _should_ be a swim team here, Jammers Boy has a jacket and recollection of swimming here for evidence that it exists. So why is she looking at him like he has two heads?

“Yes, Iwatobi does have a swim club,” she says and a wave of relief washes through him until she adds, “but the club is currently disbanded.”

Rin’s eyes widen a fracture. “What? Why?”

It’s here where Rin sees her face pull into a more serious expression, eyes narrowing. “Why would you like to know?”

Rin is taken aback from the tone in her voice, different from when she met him. Rin eyes here warily. “I’m just wondering because I’m in a swim club myself and wanted to know about the other teams.”

“Yes, I can tell,” she says and her eyes go to his jacket. “Samezuka, correct? One of the best swimming schools.”

Rin clears his throat, beginning to feel uncomfortable. “Yeah...I guess,” he tries to veer the conversation back to the previous topic. “So the swim club—”

“Is disbanded until further notice,” the wide brim of her sun hat is covering half her face now. “That is all there is to know, Matsuoka-san.”

She definitely knows more than what she’s letting on. Rin wants to know why she’s acting so defensively. “But—”

“I’m sorry, but that is all I can tell you. The swim club’s activities are strictly private, I cannot give you more information than that.”

He sighs gently through his nose, curling a loose fist in his pocket. “Right. Sorry for pressing on, Miho-sensei.”

And just like before, she turns to look up at Rin, smile back on her face, but Rin can see the tiny tension at the corner of her eye. “That’s alright, Matsuoka-san. Is there anything else you would like to know?”

Rin shakes his head. “No, that’s all.”

She nods, looking over at the road in front of the school. “Okay, well, if that is all, I’m going to head out now. You should as well, especially since you go to Samezuka. Nightfall is about to come and you shouldn’t be out so late.”

Rin nods, bowing once more. “I will. Thank you for your time.”

She gives him a small bow in return and watches as he begins to walk away.

The whole encounter was weird and unexpected and when he looks back, he sees her waving. He gives a small wave back, running a hand through his hair. She might not have given him what he wanted to hear, but she gave him enough for him to start piecing some other stuff together. He pulls out his phone to check the time.

Jammers Boy better have done his homework.

-

When Rin reaches the clearing, he sees Jammers Boy standing in the middle, Iwatobi jacket still on. Rin walks, giving him a salute. “Yo, sorry I’m late.”

Jammers Boy gives Rin a nod as a way of greeting and then Rin sighs loudly, dropping down to sit on the grass. Jammers Boy arches a brow. “What’s up with you?”

Rin shrugs, yawning. “I’m tired as shit,” he responds, rubbing a hand through his face, “it’s been a long day.” He feels a small gust of wind next to him and when he looks over, he sees Jammers Boy sitting next to him.

“Did you find anything out?”

Rin shrugs, an ugly feeling creeping up his body. “No, not really. I tried,” he murmurs, before running a hand through his hair. Jammers Boy watches him silently. “I called Gou but she didn’t answer,” he begins explaining. “I called her four times, and that’s like, weird because she always answers me,” he says and he sees the eye roll from his peripheral. “So instead of being on my ass all day and waiting for a callback, I decided to go to Iwatobi myself to get some answers.”

If he didn’t have Jammers Boy full attention then, he does now. His eyes are steadily on Rin, body angled toward him. “Really? How did that go?”

“Not as planned,” Rin says truthfully, planting his hands behind him so he can ease back a bit. “I went there, which is kind of ways away you know. 10 minutes on the bus then 20 more by walking. You’re lucky I’ve got good lungs so I ran instead and—”

“Rin,” Jammers Boy says, giving him a look that says ‘c’mon’. Now it’s Rin’s turn to roll his eyes. “Okay, okay. So,” and Rin tells Jammers boy everything that happened. How Miho-sensei’s mood did a complete 180 when he asked about the swim club and how even though he didn’t get much, the way she acted was enough to let him piece some more things together.

Jammers Boy raises a brow. Rin clears his throat. “I’m sure you’re involved in some way. If whatever happened to you happened while you were on the swim team, that would explain why a momento is your jacket, also why the club is disbanded. A club doesn’t disband and keep it under wraps just ‘cause, something must’ve happened. What happened is still the answer we’re looking for.”

Jammers Boy hums, staring off into the ocean. Rin continues. “This is where I’m hoping you did your homework so we can start piecing more things together.”

Jammers Boy nods. “I did, but is that all?”

Rin nods back but then a very important memory comes back to mind.”Oh shit! How could I forget—you know the flower right? How I took it back to the dorms? Well, when I pulled it out last night, it was completely normal. No blue lining, no shining, normal. ”

Jammers Boy looks behind them to the cluster of daffodils. “But they’re glowing right here.”

“Exactly. So that also confirms that the flowers are most definitely tied to you in some way. We have to figure that out also. I couldn’t research what a daffodil like what’s here is like, because it just doesn’t exist, so instead I researched the color blue and then the flower separately, but don’t worry about that. I don't think it ties into what we’re dealing with.” When Ai told Rin all that stuff last night, it didn’t seem like anything that could help the investigation, it was more like a personality quiz than anything.

Jammers Boy shrugs, giving a soft ‘alright’ in response.

“Okay, hit me with what you put together,” Rin says.

Jammers Boy sighs softly before beginning. “I’m on the swim team, that much is sure. We weren’t a big group but we trained hard and I remember we were going to the beach to train. Makoto...one of the members, is afraid of the ocean, and I remember being worried for him but he said he’d be fine. We were only going to train in the daylight anyway,” Jammers Boy closes his eyes, “and then something didn’t go right. I was out, at night, in the ocean and I hear the team screaming and there’s water everywhere and then...all I see is black,” Jammers Boy, blinks opens his eyes, voice soft. “The water has always been my friend, I always felt at one with it. I love it and swimming is one of the few things I’m passionate about...but in that moment, I was afraid. The water wasn’t my friend, it was my enemy. I was fighting against it.”

Rin hums shortly, going quiet as he processes everything. After a while, he speaks up. “Yeah, it’s starting to sound more and more like a drowning incident...”

Jammers Boy looks out in front of them. “...Maybe I did die, maybe I really am dead.”

Rin sucks in a breath, heart clenching. Rin’s always thought that, that Jammers Boy is dead, it’s what a ghost is, but hearing him actually cave into it...it made Rin realize that he was secretly holding onto Jammers Boy stubbornness, hoping that he was right all along. He wanted to be optimistic.

Rin licks his lips, voice low. “We don’t know that yet,” and it’s here where his phone goes off. Rin reaches for it and sits up straight at the caller ID. “Holy shit, it’s Gou,” Rin meets Jammers Boy’s eyes before he picks up the call. “Gou!”

“Onii-chan,” Gou says, but Rin notes that her voice isn’t as cheery as usual. “Sorry I couldn’t answer your call, I was busy. What’s up? You said it was important.”

“Yeah,” Rin says, brotherly instincts kicking in. “But first, are you alright? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m just tired. So if we can make this quick…”

“Right,” Rin says but he’s not buying it. “Do you know anything about the swim team at your school?”

Gou stays quiet, uncharacteristically so. Rin raises a brow. “Gou? Do you?”

“...Yes, I do. I was the manager.”

Rin is knocked for a six when he hears that and looks at his phone in disbelief. “What?! You were the manager? Since when?”

“Since this year.”

“Gou, why didn’t you  _tell_ me.”

“I..I didn’t want to disturb you Onii-chan.”

Rin physically reels back. “Disturb me? From what?”

“Well, you were so engrossed in swimming earlier in the year Onii-chan, I didn’t want to disturb your progress. Plus you rarely came home...I thought it would be better to not tell you.”

“No, Gou, you don’t have to hide things from me, especially your accomplishments or goals,” he thinks back to earlier in the year and cringes. He was still so bitter and angsty from Australia at that time that he was pushing everyone away. He was an _asshole_. “I’m sorry I acted that way. Don’t ever think you can’t tell me things because of something like that. I wasn’t in a good state of mind earlier in the year,” he’s still angsty about Australia, but far less than before. He’s learned to control it now, at least.

“Okay, I won’t,” Gou says and he can hear the smile in her voice. “Good.”

“So about the swimming team...I’m sorry, I can’t say anything. The club’s disbanded for now because of,” she gets quiet, “...because of an incident that happened earlier in the year. I can’t say anything until it’s resolved.”

The same thing Miho-sensei said. Rin feels himself deflate and he slouches. “Really?” he says but he won’t press on. Gou sounds tense on the phone and he doesn’t want to stress her out farther. “It’s okay, thank you anyway.”

“Of course. Goodnight, Onii-chan.”

“Night. Tell mom I said goodnight.”

She hangs up with an assuring hum and Rin sighs, dropping the phone on his belly.

Jammers Boy speaks up, “well?”

Rin shrugs. “Same thing Miho-sensei said, club’s disbanded and she can’t say anything until it’s resolved. She did say it was because of an incident, though.”

Rin has his head rolled back, eyes closed, but he can feel Jammers Boy stare on him. “She was the manager?”

Rin nods. “Apparently. I had no idea,” he sighs. “Maybe I would’ve if I wasn’t so busy throwing myself a pity party—” he shakes his head at himself. This is no time for him to dwell on these things now. He has other stuff things to work on, such as trying to find more objects.

“Anyway, I’m going to go look for more clues,” he gets up as he checks the time. 19:50. He’ll search for only a bit. “I’ll be back in a few,” and as he puts his phone in his pocket, he sees Jammers Boy pale hand come to his. He jerks it back. “Hey! I said don’t do—”

“Your hand,” Jammers Boy says, and Rin sees that his gaze on his left hand. “What happened?”

Rin realizes he’s staring at the red line running across his palm and shrugs, sighing. “I cut myself when I reached for the jacket piece yesterday on a rock.” Jammers Boy looks ready to protest but Rin beats him to it. He doesn’t want to hear this. “No, relax. It’s healing fine and it doesn't hurt anymore. Don’t make a big fuss over of it.”

“You got hurt because of me—”

“No, I did not. I got hurt because my dumbass wasn’t careful enough,” Rin shakes his head, bringing the backpack forward. “Now, I’m going down and I’ll be back in about 10 minutes. Let’s try to find some answers today.”

He takes out the flashlight and begins walking down the trail, feeling Jammers Boy stare on him the entire time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY if this chapter is a mess, i apologize. school & work have tagged team to royally kick my ass. they're winning so far but i still have some fight in me.   
> as always, thank you for reading. <33


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